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mp.

abbreviation of mezzopiano (Italian: moderately soft)

MP3

(English, German f.) short for 'MPEG-1, audio layer 3', MP3 is a form of digital audio compression that reduces the size of audio files without drastically compromising sound quality. MP3s reduce unnecessary data that is imperceptible to the human ear

MP3-Format

(German n.) MP3-format

MP3-Spieler

(German m.) MP3 player

MPB

abbreviation of Música Popular Brasileira literally "Brazilian Popular Music", designates a trend in post-Bossa Nova urban popular music. It is not a discrete genre but rather a constellation that combines original songwriting and updated versions of traditional Brazilian urban music styles like samba and samba-canção with contemporary influences, from folk to rock and pop. Signifying much more than the sum of the three words would indicate, "MPB" is a contemporary trend that has brought the world many renowned Brazilian artists. The term can mean either any kind of music with Brazilian origins or a voice and guitar style that arose in the late 1960s

reference to the catalogue of music by Johann Melchior Molter (1696-1765) prepared by Hafner

MS (s.), MSS (pl.)

abbreviated form of 'manuscript' and of the plural 'manuscripts'

M.S.

referring to Maria Rosa Moretti and Anna Sorento, the cataloguers of the music of Nicolò Paganini (1782-1840)

M.S., m.s.

abbreviation of mano sinistra (Italian: left hand) or 'manuscript'

MSc

abbreviation of 'Master of Science(s)'

Mshago

a dance from the Giriama and Digo people of the Coastal Region of Kenya. This harvest dance is performed during happy celebrations of successful community achievements and bumper harvest. The dance movements originate from the style of grinding millet, which emphasize the shoulder and waist with special accentuation of the upper torso

a ritual dance performed in some Kaali temples of Ernakulam and Kottayam districts (central Kerala). The dance celebrates the goddess's triumph over the demon Daarikan. Mudiyettu is performed by the Kuruppu or Marar who belong to the temple bound communities of Kerala in Southern India

"the expression mugam is used in two senses in the folk music of Azerbaijan. On the one hand the word Mugam describes the same thing as the term lad (Russian for key, mode, scale). An analysis of Azeri songs, dances and other folk-music forms show that they are always constructed according to one (of these) modes. On the other hand the term Mugam refers to an individual, multi-movement form. This form combines elements of a suite and a rhapsody, is symphonic in nature, and has its own set of structural rules. In particular one should observe that the suite-rhapsody-mugam is constructed according to one particular Mode-Mugam and is subject to all of the particular requirements of this mode"

mugam also describes a specific type of musical composition and performance, which is hard to grasp with an understanding of western concepts of music most notably because mugam composition is improvisational in nature. This brings the music close to jazz. At the same time - and this is antithetical to the heart and soul of jazz - it follows exact rules. Furthermore, in the case of the suite-rhapsody-mugam the concept of improvisation is not really an accurate one, since the artistic imagination of the performers is based on a strict foundation of principles determined by the respective mode. The performance of such a mugam does not present an amorphous and spontaneous, impulsive improvisation. The songs are often based on the ancient poetry of Azerbaijan, and although love is a common topic in these poems, due to their immense complexity many of the intricacies and the spiritual and romantic allusions are lost on the untrained ear

(or mugham-jazz) the Azerbaijani composer Vagif Mustafa Zadeh was one of the founders of azeri jazz music and a founder of the new jazz trend, combining both traditional Azeri music and American jazz. This genre is called mugam-jazz or jazz-mugam. His wife Eliza Mustafa Zadeh (in Soviet times known as Eliza Khanom), a professional singer, was one of the first women to sing in the new mugam-jazz style

Mugham opera

a hybrid genre encouraged by Soviet culture commissars to merge the high traditions of Mussorgski and Tchaikovsky with what they wrongly considered to be the simple folk music - not the real "classical" music - of the Caucasus, just as Rimsky-Korsakov had done with Sheherazade. While the plots and settings came from such Azeri epics as those written by the sixteenth-century poet Fuzuli - who, ironically, lived in Baghdad and Mosul all his life - the music and orchestration is mostly Western except for a few token arias and accompaniments using mugham scales and the kemanche, a spike fiddle, and tar, an hourglass-bodied long-necked lute

or mugam scales, the 70-odd scales found in Azeri traditional music, the cousins of Southern Asia's ragas

Mughani

(Arabic) singing men

mugir

(French) to moo (of a cow), to bellow (of oxen), to howl (figurative)

Mühe aufwenden

(German) to take pains

mühelos

(German) effortless

mühsam

(German) stentando

Muhusemoi

vertical flute of the Warao of Venezuela, which has three finger holes and a wide notch mouthpiece, made from the tibia (shin bone) of a deer

Muiñeira, Muñeira

a Spanish jig in compound duple time

Muitos meios

(Portuguese) or multimídia, multimedia

Muixeranga

the collective name given to the performance of ancient street dances and human castles, originating in the Land of Valencia, which are still preserved in the town of Algemesí, 30 km southwest from Valencia

(Arabic) the first professional male musicians in Islam emerged in the seventh century, and continued the fusion of the arts of singing and sex. The mukhannathûn were effeminate freedmen known for their association with male prostitution. Ultimately, all kinds of professional male entertainers in Islam came to be called mukhannathûn. Inevitably, the passionate art of the qiyân and the mukhannathûn aroused hostility. A treatise by Ibn Abi 'l-Dunyâ (823~~94) condemned music as being in a class with such vices as chess, wine drinking, love poetry, qiyân, and homosexuality

Mukhavina

see nadaswaram

Mukhdas

in Hindustani classical music, the first line of a song or composition

Mukkuri

a tension jaw harp of the Ainu people of Hokkaido Island in Northern Japan made from wood and with a thick tongue

one of the three güiros, or shakers, called the caja, mula and cachimbo, or the caja, dos golpes and salidor that feature in the music of Santería

one of the three conga drums, named, like the guïros mentioned above, caja, mula and cachimbo or caja, dos golpes and salidor

Mulatto

a term used to describe a person with one white parent and one black parent or a person who has black ancestry and white ancestry, a term which when used originally often had pejorative connotations

Mulish

hard-headed, unyielding, unreasonably rigid in the face of argument or entreaty or attack

Mullah

(Hindi from the Arabic) a Moslem learned in theology or law

Mulliner Book, The

an important manuscript collection of mid-sixteenth-century English keyboard music compiled by the organist Thomas Mulliner which is now housed in the British Museum (MS Add. 30513). It contains a mixture of liturgical pieces based on chant (e.g. organ hymns), some arrangements, dance pieces and freer compositions

a novel written by a member of or about a cultural minority group, giving insight into non-Western or non-dominant cultural experiences and values, either in the United States or abroad[quoted from Robert Harris]

in literature, multiculturalism is the belief that literary studies should include writings, poetry, folklore, and plays from a number of different cultures rather than focus on Western European civilization alone

the term multilingualism can refer to phenomena regarding an individual speaker who uses two or more languages; a community of speakers where two or more languages are used, or between speakers of different languages. Bilinguals and multilinguals outnumber monolinguals in the world's population

to perform two or more notes simultaneously on a violin, etc. Because the strings are not level, the notes of a triple stop will not sound together unless the chord is played loudly. This is because when playing loud the middle string can be pressed down enough for the bow to make contact with all three strings. Very often a roll of the bow to create a slight arpeggio effect, which the ear will often perceive as a three note chord, is a more desirable way to play the chord than a loudly crushed triple stop

Multiple-Touch-Sensitive Keyboard

originally commissioned by John Eaton, this keyboard was finished and delivered by Robert Moog in 1992. Sensitive not only to which key was pressed, it was also sensitive to the position on a key and the pressure with which a key was pressed, allowing a performer to control several musical parameters with the same gesture

a movie theatre or cinema complex comprising more than two screens but fewer than 16

Multiplication

in music and musical set theory, multiplication modulo 12 is a basic operation which may be performed on pitch or pitch class sets. Dealing with all twelve notes (tones), or a tone row, there are only a few numbers which one may multiply a row by and still end up with twelve notes (tones)

where a number of bars contain only rests, in instrumental parts (and sometimes in scores), the bars are 'collected' together and shown as a single bar contain a rest together with the number of consecutive bars given by a large number placed centrally above the staff over the single bar

Multi-timbral

(English, multitimbral German) (electronic instruments) capable of producing more than one type of tone-color or instrument sound at the same time

Multi-tracking

a recording technique where several tracks of sound are recorded independently but are played back together

Multitrack recording

also 'multitracking' or just 'tracking' for short, a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole. This is the most common method of recording popular music

a postcard with the depiction of more than one view printed on it. Though early postcards with decoratively vignetted scenes are sometimes referred to as multi-view, the term is usually applied to cards in which its scenes are presented within clearly defined geometric boundaries and little or no added graphic elements. This stylistic form is found most often on generalised 'greetings from' (Gruss aus or Gruss von) cards and for business advertising, such as for hotels, restaurants, etc.

Multum in parvo

(Latin) a great deal in a small compass

Mu (µ) major chord

an add2 chord, sometimes also called an add9 chord (the 2nd and 9th degrees of the scale are, of course, the same note one octave apart). In terms of the notes used, there is no difference between a mu major chord and an ordinary add2 chord. What marks out the Steely Dan mu major chord as something a little different is the way the chord is voiced and used. Using different voicings for the chord alters its sound, and there are some particular voicings that are used frequently in Steely Dan songs, giving a distinctive sound. Also, the harmonic context in which the chord is used affects the sound. The chord vocabulary used by Steely Dan is much richer and more jazz-influenced than most other groups, so the sound of a mu major in this context will be different from the use of an "ordinary add2 chord" in the context of more simple chords

Thomas Pettitt (in Folk Drama Studies Today - International Traditional Drama Conference 2002) writes that "the mummers' plays were born when a cluster of traditional, seasonal, perambulatory shows (it is convenient, but inaccurate to call them "mummings") acquired a distinctly dramatic item - let's call it a "play" - probably sometime in the late-sixteenth or early seventeenth century. A mummers' play is a mumming with a play in it (except that it's not really a mumming and not really a play)"

Mu-mu

also muu-muu or 'Mother Hubbard', a straight simple dress introduced into the Pacific islands by missionaries

the gentle rotary motions of the wrists and fingers which is typical of the art of flamenco. These motions are also known as flores

Muñeira

(Spanish) muiñeira

Muñeres

(Spanish) traditional jigs from Asturias

Munggang

see laras

Muni

sage, ancient seer

Munnharpe

Norwegian Jew's harp

Münster

(German) minster, cathedral

Munter

an ugly woman

a drinker of alcohol, especially a heavy drinker

munter

(German) lively, animated, sprightly, briskly

muntere Lied

(German n.) a lilt (a type of song)

Munterkeit

(German) briskness, livliness, vivacity

muovendo

(Italian) moving, movendo

muoversi con movimento circolare

(Italian) to swirl

muoversi con passo incerto

(Italian) to lurch

Muqam

(China) in the mid-sixteenth century, the imperial concubine of the Yarkant Kingdom devoted all her efforts to collecting and compiling muqam music, which was then scattered across Uygur-populated areas. Amannisahan herself was an esteemed poetess and musician. With the help of other musicians, she finally fashion 12 grand, light, and entertaining compositions that are now known as the 'Twelve Muqam'. Strictly following the astronomical almanac, each of the 'Twelve Muqam' is divided into three parts: Cong Naghma, Dastan, and Mashrap, each with 25-30 sub-melodies. The whole set of the 'Twelve Muqam' consists of 360 different melodies and takes over 20 hours to play in full

the melody type used in Uyghur music, that is, a musical mode and set of melodic formulas used to guide improvisation and composition

a form of popular musical theatre, a musical play consisting of a suite of songs and recitative (heightened speech) lasting around 45 minutes, performed primarily in Montevideo, Uruguay during the Carnival season. Murga groups also operate in Argentina, though to a much lesser extent. Murga has a counterpart in Spain from which it is derived, but over time the two have diverged into distinct forms

or 'murky', a keyboard playing style where the bass consists of quick alternating octaves rather than slower, longer notes, in either case, the progression would have been the same (associated particular with the galant style)

a type of moresco, which occurs in a piece for virginals by Giles Farnaby (1560-1640) where it is also called 'Kempe's Morris', named for William Kempe (c.1560-c.1603), one of the most famous of Elizabethan clowns, a member of William Shakespeare's company of actors. Kempe was as well known for his dancing as for his clowning, and between February 11 and March 11, 1600 he danced the 'Morris' from London to Norwich, a feat known as "the nine days' wonder"

Muscat

(French) family of grapes of the species Vitis vinifera widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes

a port on the Gulf of Oman and capital of the sultanate of Oman

the grapy, orange-blossom scent characteristic of muscat grapes and of the wine produced from them, the term is also used to describe the aroma and flavour of some fine Darjeeling teas

Muscle back

a feature usually in vest tops where the back is cut away to reveal the wearers shoulder blades, very popular in sportswear for both men and women

Muscle memory

proprioception (from Latin proprius, meaning 'one's own') is the sense of the position of parts of the body, relative to other neighbouring parts of the body. When a musician repeatedly replays a piece, a technical passage or an exercise, the body's ability to 'remember' the activation sequence of various muscles (for example, the fingers of a pianist) means that when next the piece or exercise is played the mind can concentrate on the 'musical aspects of performance' while the required coordination has been already been developed

muscm(s)

abbreviation of 'musical comedy (comedies)'

MusD, MusDoc, Mus.D., Mus.Doc.

abbreviated form of the university degree 'Doctor of Music'

Muse

(English, German f., French f.) a creative artist's inspiration, usually a person

see 'Muses'

usually followed by on, upon) to ponder, to reflect

to say meditatively

Musée

(French m.) museum

Musée des instruments de musique Bruxelles

(French m.) a museum and library in central Brussels, Belgium, that is part of the Royal Museums for Art and History. The collection was started in 1877. The current building was opened in 2000 and has over 1,500 instruments on display. The collection includes mechanical instruments, 20th century instruments, a group of bells, Belgian and European folk instruments, and non-European instruments, as well as a historical tour from antiquity to the 20th century, and a presentation showing the development of keyboard instruments and stringed instruments

or Mousai, the Greek goddesses of inspiration, learning, the arts, and culture. According to Hesiod's Theogony, Zeus lay with the Titanis Mnemosyne (Memory) for nine days, and she gave birth to the Muses, who rejoice in their bright dancing places on Mount Helicon, "nine voices united in one song". Their companions are the Graces and Desire, and their leader is Apollo, the god of music and harmony. Mnemosyne was sometimes numbered amongst the three goddesses known as elder Muses: Mneme (Memory), Aiode (Song) and Melete (Practice)

name

neaning of name

domain

symbols

Calliope

the fair voiced

epic poetry

writing tablet

Clio

the proclaimer

history

scroll

Erato

the lovely

love poetry

lyre

Euterpe

the giver of pleasure

music

flute

Melpomene

the songstress

tragedy

tragic mask

Polyhymnia

she of many hymns

sacred poetry

pensive look

Terpsichore

the whirler

dancing

dancing with lyre

Thalia

the flourishing

comedy

comic mask

Urania

the heavenly

astronomy

celestial globe

the Greek poetess Sappho (seventh century BC), 'the Poetess' as Homer was 'the Poet', was known as 'the Tenth Muse', 'the Pierian Bee'; the wise Solon wished to "learn a song of Sappho's and then die". Still Sappho was known and admired all over Greece soon after her death

(English, French f., German f.) French bellows blown bagpipe with 2 small cylindrical keyed chanters, and a shuttle drone which found its place in the music of the French court unlike its poor relation, the cornemuse, which seldom strayed far from its folk-music roots

or vibration musette, a tuning used in accordions, also called "wet" tuning, where two or more sets of reeds are tuned slightly off pitch from each other, giving a vibrato effect. The classic setting, vibration musette (French m.), uses three reeds, one precisely to pitch, the other two slightly above and below the pitch to produce a constant plaintive quavering tone. The degree of "wetness" is determined by how far apart the reeds are tuned

on an accordion, a register setting of two middle reeds together (two "clarinet" reeds equalling a "violin" reed) plus a higher octave reed, producing a pleasant, bright sound that is associated with French accordion music

a style of French popular music featuring the accordion, which flourished in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. This genre developed from the music played by people from the impoverished Auvergne who had moved en masse to Paris in the late 1800s and brought their music and instruments with them. At the end of the nineteenth century, the dancehalls they frequented featured bagpipes called cabrettes (little goats) and fiddles playing bourées and scottishes, but during the decades to followed, the bagpipes and fiddles gave way to accordions and guitar-banjos

a reed-stop on the organ

Musette bechonnet

(France f.) bagpipe from the High Loire

Musette de cour

(French f., literally 'court bagpipe') although the small bagpipe called musette de cour is not well known as a baroque woodwind instrument these days, by the late seventeenth century it was very popular in France. It blossomed in the eighteenth century, and painters of the period like Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), bear witness to this with their paintings of the instrument. The musette had developed alongside other woodwind instruments like the flute, oboe and bassoon in the workshops of French makers such as the Hotteterre family, because, among other things, it could execute articulation and staccato like other woodwind instruments

(French f.) according to Mersenne, Poitou refers to a type of reed cap instrument. However, in the section where Mersenne mentions the hautbois de Poitou there is a picture of a bagpipe which suggests that this instrument is, in fact, a mouth-blown bagpipe with a chanter with a single key and looks like a shawm (oboe). This bagpipe may be the musette de Poitou

Musette d'Italie

(French f.) see sourdeline

Musette ensemble

orchestre musette (French m.), also known as a musette orchestra, a type of ensemble that performed French popular music featuring an accordion, several guitars, possibly a banjo and occasionally also a bass and a violinist, which flourished in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s

Musette oboe

or oboe musette, see 'piccolo oboe'

Museum

building used for storing and exhibiting objects of historical, scientific, or cultural interest

Museum board

a type of cardboard. Specifically, it is a white, acid-free cardboard with the interesting property that it flexes fairly easily in one direction but it is fairly stiff in the other

Museum card

a postcard published by a museum depicting a piece of its collection or artwork from a visiting show. Most museum cards are of art pieces though they may depict the architecture of the museum itself. They have been a very popular type of card since the begining of postcard production. These cards are often produced in great quantity

Museum Island

(German: Museumsinsel) in Berlin, Germany is the name of the northern half of the Spreeinsel, an island in the Spree river in the centre of the city (the southern half of the island is called Fischerinsel (Fishers' Island)). The island received its name for several internationally renowned museums that now occupy all of the island's northern half (originally a residential area dedicated to "art and science" by King Frederick William IV of Prussia in 1841). Constructed under several Prussian kings, their collections of art and archeology were turned into a public foundation after 1918, the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation), which maintains the collections and museums today

a derogatory term for something old-fashioned or for a quaint person or object

Mush

applied to a work of art, a term implying a quality of feeble sentimentality

Mushy

applied to a work of art, feebly sentimental

Music

(Greek, from mousike, literally 'the art of the muses', which may be applied to any of the arts or sciences governed by the Muses) music is an art, entertainment, or other human activity which involves organized and audible sound, though definitions may vary. Defining music is as difficult as defining art or any other subjective phenomenon. It is a problem that has been tackled at various times by philosophers, lexicographers, composers, teachers, semioticians or semiologists, linguists and other scientists, students, and various other musicians. The elements of music often have an implicit concept of time, pitch, and energy. The presence or lack of these elements can be used to classify music. They can be organized into units with interrelated rhythm, harmony, and melody. Organizing musical sound is part of composition and improvisation. Music can invoke or convey a sense of motion in time. Because of its ability to communicate, music is sometimes described as the "universal language". Yet the "meaning" of music is obviously culturally mediated. For example, in Western society, minor chords are often perceived as "sad", an understanding other cultures rarely share. There is significant complexity in the structural elements of music which warrant the perception of music as a language. For example, genres of music can be characterized by the manner in which sound and silence are articulated, organized, and disseminated. The composition of these elements gives rise to a system which is on par with the complexities and subtleties of 'language'.

in 1957, Max Mathews, an acoustic researcher at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, wrote Music I and used it to generate the first examples of digital audio. During the next years, he finished Music II, Music III, and Music IV. In 1964, Jean-Claude Risset arrived at Bell Labs and used Music IV to digitize the sound of a trumpet. It was the first successful digital reproduction of a brass instrument. It also marked the beginning of acoustic research linked to digital synthesis.

(Protuguese f., literally 'hillbilly' or 'country' music) a Brazilian Portuguese term used to designate the music of the inhabitants of rural, remote areas of some Brazilian states

Música callejera

(Spanish f.) street music, musique de rue (French)

Música campesina

(Cuba) a rural form of improvised music derived from a local form of décima and verso called punto and that has become an important influence on modern son, More recently as interest in the form has waned some artists have tried to renew the genre with new styles, lyrics, themes and arrangements

(Spanish f.) music of the Celts, particularly associated with the traditional music of Ireland and Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, Brittany (France), Northumbria and parts of Spain (Galacia, Asturias and Cantabria)

Música clásica

(Spanish f.) classical music, music of the Classical period

Música clásica occidental

(Spanish f.) western classical music, music of the Western Classical period

Musica classica

(Italian f.) classical music, music of the Classical period

Musica colorata

(Italian f.) musica figurata with the addition of florid decoration

Musica concertata

(Italian f.) concerted music, music in the stile concertato

Musica concreta

(Italian f.) musique concrète

Música concreta

(Spanish f.) musique concrète

Musica contemporanea

(Italian f.) contemporary music, usually taken to be music composed in the last 25 years

Música contemporánea

(Spanish f.) contemporary music, usually taken to be music composed in the last 25 years

(Spanish f.) music of the ancients, ancient music (music written before 476 CE, the end of the era of Imperial Rome)

Música del siglo XX

(Spanish f.) twentieth-century music, music of the twentieth-century

Musica del dodicesimo secolo

(Italian f.) twentieth-century music, music of the twentieth-century

Musica della Passione

(Italian f.) Passion music

Musica dell'avvenire

(Italian f.) music of the future

see Zukunftmusik

Musica delle sfere

(Italian f.) music of the spheres

Música de los pigmeos

(Spanish f.) music of the Pygmies

Música del rococó

(Spanish f.) music of the Rococo era

Música descriptiva

(Spanish f.) programme music

Musica descrittiva

(Italian f.) programme music

Música de viento

(Spanish f.) concert band music (music performed by a wind or brass band)

Musica di accompagnamento

(Italian f.) incidental music

Musica di consumo

(Italian f.) functional music (entry corrected by Roberto Agostini)

see Gebrauchsmusik

Musica di corte

(Italian f.) court music

Musica di gatti

(Italian f.) burlesque music, caterwauling

Musica di Natale

(Italian f.) Christmas music

Musica di scena

(Italian f.) incidental music

Música disco

(Spanish f.) disco music

Musica di sottofondo

(Italian f.) background music, incidental music

Música docta

(Spanish f.) academic (i.e. learned) or serious music

Musica dodecafonica

(Italian f.) twelve-tone music, dodecaphonic music

Musica domestica

(Italian f.) domestic music

Musica drammatica

(Italian f.) dramatic music

Música durangunese

see duranguense

Musica d'uso

(Italian f.) functional music

see Gebrauchsmusik

Música electrónica

(Spanish f.) electronic music (music produced electronically)

Musica elettronica

(Italian f.) electronic music (music produced electronically)

Musica enchiriadis

an anonymous musical treatise from the ninth century. It is the first surviving attempt to establish a system of rules for polyphony in western music. The treatise was once attributed to Hucbald, but this is no longer accepted

(Portuguese f., Spanish f.) serious, 'classical' or 'art' music, a term applied to music that does not come from either folk or popular idiom traditions

Música escrita

(Spanish f.) written music

Música eslovaca

(Spanish f.) Slovak music

Musica etnica

(Italian f.) ethnic music

Musica falsa

musica ficta

Musica familaire

(Italian f.) domestic music

Musica ficta

(English, German f., Latin) the term musica ficta carries two distinct although not unrelated meanings, one arising from medieval and Renaissance hexachord theory and the other from modern dilemmas of editorial and performance practice

in the medieval sense

musica ficta involves inflections extra manum (that is, 'outside the hand' - the Guidonian hand) used to define the standard hexachords and steps of the gamut. The term is in contrast to musica recta that involves hexachords and steps within this gamut - or a transposed version of it

in the colloquial modern sense

musica ficta can often mean 'unwritten accidentals' supplied in performance. So where accidentals are expressly indicated (e.g. in a medieval source) this would not be musica ficta in this modern sense. However, a given accidental may be musica ficta under the modern definition, but musica recta in medieval terms. Thus if a performer reading a piece without signature chooses to sing or play Bfa (Bb) rather than Bmi (B-natural), in order, for example, to avoid a vertical or horizontal tritone, this would be an inflection within the regular gamut (musica recta) - but, in the colloquial modern sense, also an exercise in musica ficta (in that the inflection is unwritten)

in both senses

if either thirteenth-century or modern musicians were reading the same composition from the Florence manuscript, and singing C# although it is not indicated in this manuscript, then this would be a case of musica ficta in both the medieval sense (an inflection outside of the standard gamut) and modern sense (an unwritten accidental)

(Italian f.) contrapuntal music in which time values are not common through the voices as they would be in 'note against note' counterpoint, for example, decorated plainchant

the decorated, florid style found in early Flemish polyphony, in this sense similar to musica colorata

Música folclórica

(Spanish f.) folk (music), popular music

Musica folcloristica

(Italian f.) folk (music), popular music

Musica folk

(Italian f.) folk (music)

Musica funebre

(Italian f.) funeral music

Musica funk

(Italian f.) funk (music)

Musica getuscht und angezogen (1511)

written by Sebastian Virdung (born c.1465) and published in Basel is the oldest printed manual on musical instruments. The first section of the treatise describes and classifies instrument families, the second addresses notation

Música griega

(Spanish f.) Greek music (generally meaning music of the ancient Greeks)

Musica grunge

(Italian f.) grunge

Musica gospel

(Italian f.) gospel (music)

Música gospel

(Spanish f.) gospel (music)

Música hispanoamericana

(Spanish f.) Spanish-American music

Musica humana

see musica mundana

Música húngara

(Spanish f.) music of Hungary

Música india

(Spanish f.) music of India

Musica informatica

(Italian f.) computer music

Música instrumental

(Spanish f.) instrumental music

Musica instrumentalis deudsch (1529/1545)

written by Martin Agricola (1483-1556) and published in Wittemberg is an important treatise on musical instruments

Musica instrumentis constituta

see musica mundana

Música jibara

typical Puerto Rican music

Musical

(English, German n.) a popular successor to musical comedy, the first of which was Showboat

said of someone who gives a sensitive, or more properly 'appropriate' performance of a piece of music, 'appropriate' in that the performance conforms to what is generally accepted as being 'musical', i.e. observing the appropriate conventions, or of the performance itself

or music acoustics, the branch of acoustics concerned with researching and describing the physics of music - how sounds employed as music work. Examples of areas of study are the function of musical instruments, the human voice (the physics of speech and singing), computer analysis of melody, and determination of stylistic parameters in compositions and performances

the musical alphabet, in its simplest form, consists of the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G (these letters represent musical pitches and correspond to the white keys on the piano) and, in German, the letter H. Many composers have tried to extend the alphabet using the sound of letter to mimic the names of notes (usually German names) - for example, S sounds like es = E flat (German)

Musical analysis

musical analysis can be defined as a process attempting to answer the question "how does this music work?". The method employed to answer this question, and indeed exactly what is meant by the question, differs from analyst to analyst

musical education specifically aimed at developing in the inexperienced listener of music an appreciation of what he or she is hearing. This should include an understanding of the characteristics of music from different periods or drawn from contrasting genres in terms of the sound (instruments, fluctuations of dynamics (volume), mood, etc.), harmony (or chords) (simple vs. complex, sweet vs. harsh, etc.), melody (short vs. long, single vs. multiple, singable vs. non-singable, etc.), rhythm (regular vs. irregular, light vs. aggressive, etc.), and form (repetition or symmetry, short vs. long, predicable vs. unpredictable, etc.)

Marsilio Ficino, the leader of the Florentine Academy, wrote: "It is music that inspires the works of all creators; orators, poets, painters, sculptors, architects." He continued to call those arts 'liberal arts', though in accordance with his idea the proper name would have been 'musical arts'. His idea was never published but only expressed in letters and therefore it never won a more general recognition

Musical bow

an instrument formed of a curved wooden staff and a gourd shaped resonator with a single string

a mechanical device, powered by clockwork, invented at the end of the eighteenth century, in which a rotating cylinder fitted with suitably placed protruding pins, pluck the teeth of a chromatically tuned metal comb

in European classical music, musical development is a process by which a musical idea is communicated in the course of a composition. It refers to the transformation and restatement of initial material, and is often contrasted with musical variation, which is a slightly different means to the same end

(French) a musical party, particularly one held in the afternoon (thus, a shortening of matinée musicale) or evening (thus, a shortening of soirée musicale)

musicale

(Italian) musical

Musica leggera

(Italian f.) light music, music for entertainment

musicalement

(French) musically

Musical ensemble

a group of three or more musicians who gather to perform music

Musical form

the term musical form is used in two related ways:

a generic type of composition such as the symphony or concerto

the structure of a particular piece, how its parts are put together to make the whole; this too can be generic, such as binary form or sonata form

musical form (the whole or structure) is contrasted with content (the parts) or with surface (the detail), but there is no clear line between the two. In most cases, the form of a piece should produce a balance between statement and restatement, unity and variety, contrast and connection

there is some overlap between musical form and musical genre. The latter term is more likely to be used when referring to particular styles of music (such as classical music or rock music) as determined by things such as harmonic language, typical rhythms, types of musical instrument used and geographical origin. Such categories are not strictly genre and a single geographical category will often include a wide variety of sub-genres. Categorizing music, especially into finer genres or subgenres, can be difficult for newly emerging styles or for pieces of music that incorporate features of multiple genres. Attempts to pigeonhole particular musicians in a single genre are sometimes ill-founded as they may produce music in a variety of genres over time or even within a single piece

music theorists usually refer to musical grammars as systems. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Western Europe, a particular musical grammar we call the modal system gradually evolved into the musical grammar we call functional tonality or, more simply (and arrogantly), the tonal system. This new grammar for governing the relationships of pitches and rhythms characterized most of the Western European music of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, what we now know as the common practice period. By the end of the nineteenth century, this common tonal system underwent another period of dramatic evolution which for many modernist composers lead to the adoption of radically new grammars. Now, at the end of the twentieth century, common-practice tonality - to the extent that it survives at all - is the provenance of some post-modern musicians of the "classical," jazz, and popular music styles

taken from Common-Practice Tonality by E. W. Williams Jr.

Musical hook

the 'intro' (introduction) to and sometimes the most remembered part of a song

Musical humour

"How can music be funny?" a bemused friend once asked me. If you don't believe music can have meaning, it's a fair question: telephone numbers, for example, are short on subtext and so rarely raise a laugh. Yet even numbers can be humorous to some people. Mathematicians say that numbers take on meanings, and some combinations can be genuinely funny. For most of us, though, such humour will seem arbitrary and personal - and isn't looking for humour in music an equally subjective pursuit? Of course not; it just takes a little understanding of the language of music, and Shostakovich was surely the great master at communicating through that language, with all the associations, nuances and references that music has

Diana Deutsch's musical illusions and paradoxes show that people can differ strikingly in the way they hear very simple musical patterns. These disagreements do not reflect variations in musical ability or training. Even the finest musicians, on listening to Deutsch's stereo illusions, may disagree completely as to whether a high tone is being played to their right ear or to their left. And the most expert musicians, on listening to the tritone paradox, can engage in long arguments as to whether a pattern of only two tones is moving up or down in pitch. How do we explain these striking perceptual discrepancies? In the case of the stereo illusions, disagreements tend to arise between righthanders and lefthanders, indicating that they reflect variations in brain organization. In contrast, the way the tritone paradox is perceived varies with the geographical region in which listener grew up, so differences here are related to the languages or dialects to which people are exposed

musical imagery can be defined as our mental capacity for imagining musical sound in the absence of a directly audible sound source, meaning that we can recall and re-experience or even invent new musical sound through our "inner ear." Although perception and cognition in music has received much attention in recent years, little has been said about our images of musical sound. The field of visual imagery has attracted much research effort, partly out of the recognition that imagery is integral to all cognition, perhaps even being the very content of thought

Musical improvisation

singing or playing a musical instrument extemporaneously - in an "offhand" manner. This contrasts with the more conventional approach to performing musical works, which involves playing music that is read from notation, or that has been previously memorized

or MIDI, an industry-standard electronic communications protocol that defines each musical note in an electronic musical instrument such as a synthesizer, precisely and concisely, allowing electronic musical instruments and computers to exchange data in real time. MIDI does not transmit audio - it simply transmits digital information about a music performance

a large number of musical instruments are notated so that what is read is what is played. Where instruments have a large range, different regions will be notated using alternative clefs, in order to keep notes on, or close to, the five line staff. Other instruments use a convention where what is written is not what is played. For example, instruments that would play well below, or well above the musical staff, have their parts shifted by one or more octaves. Thus, a string bass part is notated one octave higher than it sounds, while a piccolo part is notated one octave lower than it sounds. Another situation occurs when writing for so-called 'transposing instruments'. These generally fall into groups and a good example is the saxophone family. All saxophonists are prompted not for a 'sounding' note but for a 'particular fingering associated with a certain written note'. So, even though different sizes of saxophone sound different notes when a particular fingering is used, on each one 'transposing parts' have been adjusted, or transposed, to ensure that the notes that sound is the ones that are required. The player can then use a common set of fingerings as he or she moves between the various sizes without having to worry about the different keys in which the instrument can be manufactured. However, this benefit is not enjoyed by recorder players who, apart from meeting parts that may have been shifted by one octave, still have to learn two 'reading-fingering' conventions, one for instruments in F and the other for instruments in C

(Spanish, literally 'plains music') the various types of music from the Orinoco River basin plains of southwestern Venezuela and southeastern Colombia, traditionally played with an arpa, cuatro, and capachos (small maracas)

Musically gifted

see 'gifted' musically'

Musical markings

written instructions about changes in dynamics, changes in tempo, etc., found in a musical score

The Musical Offering (1747) provides numerous examples of Johann Sebastian Bach's interest in pervasively imitative forms: there are two keyboard ricercares (for three and six voices respectively), and ten canons of various types. The collection also contains a four-movement trio sonata, for flute, violin, and continuo. All pieces make use of a single theme, which was given to Bach by Frederick the Great. Bach is said to have improvised the three-voice ricercare before the King, and then written out the entire Musical Offering after his return to Leipzig

Musical periods

the simplest and one of the oldest methods of dividing the passage of time is by calendar centuries, decades, or years in annalistic fashion. 'Period' is treated implicitly as merely a linguistic label, as a convenience in the delimitation of a topic or the subdivision of a book. This view, though frequently unintended, underlies many studies even today which religiously respect datelines of centuries or which set exact limitations of years (e.g. 1700-50) unjustified by any reason other than the practical need of some time limits. An extreme nominalism is implied in such practice. 'Period' is, in this view, an arbitrary imposition on material which in reality is nothing but a continuous directionless flux

the periods when Western music was written are arranged according to the following convention:

period

Italian

Spanish

French

German

approximate dates

Ancient (music)

musica antica

música de la antiguedad

musique ancienne

Musik der Antike

pre-500

Medieval (music)

musica medioevale

música medieval

musique médiévale

Musik des Mittelalters

500-1450

Renaissance (music)

musica rinascimentale

música renacentista

musique de la Renaissance

Renaissancemusik

1450-1600

Baroque (music)

musica barocca

música barroca

musique baroque

Barockmusik

1600-1750

Baroque period - 3 subdivisions:

(1) Early Baroque

barroco temprano

baroque ancien

Frühbarock

1600-1650

(2) Middle Baroque

barroco medio

baroque moyen

Hochbarock

1650-1700

(3) Late Baroque

barroco tardío

baroque tardif

Spätbarock

1700-1750

Rococo (music)

musica del rococo

música del rococó

musique rococo

Rokokomusik

1725-1775

Galant style

stile galante

estilo galante

style galante

Stil GalantEmpfindsamer Stil

1740-1770

Classical (music)

musica classica

música clásica

musique de la période classique

Klassikmusik

1750-1820

Classical period - 2 subdivisions:

(1) Early Classical

classique moyen

Frühklassik

1740-1780

(2) First Viennese School

prima scuola di Vienna

primera escuela de Vienne

première école de Vienne

Wiener Klassik

1780-1830

Romantic (music)

musica romantica

música romántica

musique romantique

Musik der Romantik

1810-1910

Twentieth-century (music)

musica del dodicesimo secolo

música del siglo XX

musique du XXe siècle

Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts

1900-1999

Modern (music)

musica moderna

música moderna

musique moderne

Neue Musik

1945-to about 25 years ago

Contemporary (music)

musica contemporanea

música contemporánea

musique contemporaine

Neue Musik

last 25 years

these dates should be taken only as a guide because different styles became fashionable in different countries at different times

a wood saw with a blade of fine steel, similar to a carpenter's saw but without the teeth, that is gripped between the knees and played with a bass or cello bow, the metal saw being bent into an S-shape by the left hand so that varying the amount of pressure on the saw blade provides a means of adjusting the pitch of the note emitted

Musical score

see 'score'

Musical semiology

the study of musical semiotics

Musical semiotics

the French author Roland Barthes (1915-1980) wrote: "semiology aims to take in any system of signs, whatever their substance and limits; images, gestures, musical sounds, objects, and the complex associations of all of these, which form the content of ritual, convention or public entertainment: these constitute, if not languages, at least systems of signification". Music is important to a general semiotics because it is a particularly hybrid sign system. Musical sound engages a wide variety of resources for signification, from indexes of bodily states, through to the most abstract of cultural symbols. Aesthetic valuation seems to rest fundamentally both upon rule-governed stylistic norms, and upon radical individuation both in works and in their reception. Musical practice is embedded in multiple contexts and frames of reference (histories, performances, acts of composition, reception practices, and others). And finally, of all significant forms, music has perhaps the most subtle and complex relationship to verbal language and the sorts of referentiality with which it is (traditionally) associated. It is this richness that makes music an important source-case for a general semiotics

(Italian f.) music of the 'modern era', usually taken to be from 1905 to about 25 years ago

Música moderna

(Spanish f.) music of the 'modern era', usually taken to be from 1905 to about 25 years ago

Musica mundana

the Pythagorean theory of 'The Music of the Spheres', as elucidated by Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (480-524) in his De Instituzione Musica, classifies music as follows:

musica mundana

the music of the universe

the orderly numerical relations seen in the movements of the spheres, the changing of the seasons, and the elements

musica humana

human music

which controls the union of the body and the soul and their parts

musica instrumentis constituta

music produced by instruments

music created by certain melodic instruments, such as the human voice, the kithara [lyre], or the tibia [flute], which exemplifies the same principles of order, especially in the numerical ratios of musical intervals

Music and Islam

for Muslim theorists, as for their medieval counterparts in Europe, music belonged to the mathematical sciences. For many centuries there was a continuing debate as to whether the performance of music was a permissible activity for a Muslim at all. In the end, despite the frowns of theologians, who associated music with dancing and other questionable activities, the strong and deep musical traditions, particularly of the Iranians, Turks and the Muslims of India, proved irresistable and, in the Sufi Orders, which spread throughout the Islamic world between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, both music and dance formed an indispensable part of mystical ritual. Though it served religion in this and other contexts, however, music never played the important part in Islam that it did in the Christian tradition[quotation from Iran under the Safavids by Roger Savory; pub. Cambridge University Press, 2007]

Music and movement

the topic of music and movement in the curriculum is an area that has long been neglected up until recently. Educators are now becoming more aware of the benefits of a quality music and movement program because of increased studies. Researchers have found that music and movement programs have a positive impact on child development for children between birth and their primary school years in many of the developmental domains. Singing songs to children and with them will teach them about beat, tones, and lyrics which are all important in developing auditory discrimination. The use of instruments will promote fine motor development and encourage creative development. Creative movement helps children learn many concepts such as balance, coordination, rhythm, and is also an important tool for developing self-esteem and body awareness and the own development of the child itself. Music and movement has been added to the curriculum in a larger effort to bring and keep Arts Enrichment courses in the schools. Many organizations and businesses have been developed to bring programs to schools and the rest of the community

there is a long history of the connection between music and politics, particularly political expression in music. This expression has most often used anti-establishment or protest themes, although pro-establishment ideas are also used, for example in national anthems

written by Adolphe Appia (1862-1928), and published in 1899, Die Musik und die Inszenierung this book set out his views on the staging of Wagner's operas. Appia thought Wagner both to have been limited in his concepts of staging and to have been naive in his expectation that nature could be represented on stage with realistic effect. Appia advocated an expressive rather than a naturalistic staging of Wagner's dramas. He proposed an hierarchy of scenic elements, with the actor at the top of this hierarchy. All inessentials were to be removed from the staging and, since the actor was a three-dimensional creature, also the elements of the staging should be three-dimensional with the possible exception of the backdrop. Appia was one of the first designers to understand the potential of stage lighting to do more than merely illuminate actors and painted scenery

Paul Whittaker has been profoundly deaf since the age of 8, and yet he in a professional pianist, organist and sign interpreter for major musical productions. Profoundly deaf since the age of 12, Evelyn Glennie refused to accept rejection of her desire to become a solo percussionist. She continued to follow her dream; and today she is recognized as the first classically trained solo percussionist, one of the finest in the world. While attending Kansas School for the Deaf, Shawn Dale Barnett (1963-2003), born profoundly deaf, was told that being deaf would keep him from success in the music business. There he was beaten regularly by older classmates who didn't believe his claim that he was able to play the drums. He eventually proved them wrong and won $20 in the bargain. After he graduated from K.S.D., he pursued his dream, was one of the first professional deaf drummers, and eventually became the first deaf man to have a top hit on MTV. He has also done much to communicate his sounds directly to hearing-impaired fans. His one-man show presents his "deaf music" that features a new type of rhythm, drum vibrations, speeds of time and visual effects like flashing lights, fog machines, and balloons. A lot of listeners, including other deaf people, find it hard to believe he plays and writes so well. The way he puts it is: "I go by just feeling the vibrations in one way or another."

Music and The Deaf - for learning about music and deafness. Music and the Deaf was founded to enable deaf people of all ages and all degrees of hearing loss to access music and the Performing Arts

(Spanish f.) a type of Latin American music initially developed by black slaves in South America, in particular Peru, where it is known as musica criolla. Musica negra's influences are largely West African music and Spanish music

(Spanish f.) a generic term for any popular music from the large region of Northeastern Brazil, including both coastal and inland areas. Rhythms are slow and plodding, and are derived from accordions and guitars instead of percussion instruments like in the rest of Brazil. In this region, African rhythms and Portuguese melodies combined to form maracatu and dance music called baião

Música norteña

(Spanish f.) northern Mexican popular music

Musica orchestrata

(Italian f.) polyphony (concerted music)

Musica orchestrale

(Italian f.) orchestral music

Música orquestal

(Spanish f.) orchestral music

Música para bailar

(Spanish f.) music for dancing

Música para cine

(Portuguese f.) film music

Música para gaita

(Spanish f.) music for bagpipes

Música para orquesta

(Spanish f.) orchestral music

Musica parlante

(Italian f.) recitative

Musica per balletto

(Italian f.) ballet music

Musica per banda

(Italian f.) wind music, band music

Musica per coro

(Italian f.) choral music

Musica per film

(Italian f.) film music

Musica per la scuola

(Italian f.) school music

Musica per stumenti a corda

(Italian f.) music for strings

Musica per stumenti a fiato

(Italian f.) wind music

Musica poetica

(English, German f., Latin) a term commonly applied to the art of composing music in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century German schools and universities. Its first known use was in the Rudimenta Musicae Planae (Wittenberg: 1533) of Nicolaus Listenius. Previously, music had been divided into musica theoretica and musica practica, which were categorised with the quadrivium and trivium, respectively. Since music of the time primarily meant vocal music, it was natural for theorists to make analogies between the composition of music and the composition of oratory or poetry. Hence, the term musica poetica

(Portuguese f., literally 'Brazilian Popular Music') in mid-1960s Brazil, the addition of electric guitars and elements of rock music resulted in the creation of música popular brasileira, associated with Chico Buarque and others, that focused on urban protest against the military regime that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985

(English, German f., Latin) an element of the trivium, one half of the medieval system of eduction

Musica profana

(Italian f.) secular music

Música profana

(Spanish f.) secular music

Musica puntillistica

(Italian f.) pointillist music

Musica pura

(Italian f.) absolute music

musicare

(Italian) to play music, to sing music, to set to music

Musica recta

see musica ficta

Musica religiosa

(Italian f.) religious music, sacred music (music written to be played in church), processional music

Música religiosa

(Portuguese f., Spanish f.) religious music, sacred music (music written to be played in church)

Música religiosa cristiana

(Spanish f.) sacred or religious music of the Christian rite

Música renacentista

(Spanish f.) Renaissance music, music of the Renaissance

Musica reservata

a mid-sixteenth- to early seventeenth-century term applied to music of intense expressiveness, careful text setting, and elaborate contrapuntal techniques, most likely intended for an audience of connoisseurs

(Portuguese f.) or sertanejo, a term for Brazilian country music. It originally referred to music from originating among Sertão and musica caipira, but has since gained more influences from outside Brazil, in particular, American country music, Mexican mariachi, and the music of Paraguay

Musica sinfonica

(Italian f.) symphonic music

Música sinfónica

(Spanish f.) symphonic music

Música sinfônica

(Portuguese f.) symphonic music

Musica speculativa

(English, German f., Latin) synonymous with musica theoretica

Musica sperimentale

(Italian f.) experimental music

Musicassetta

(Italian f.) (music) cassette

Musica strumentale

(Italian f.) instrumental music

Música techno

(Spanish f.) techno (a style of modern pop music that uses electronic instruments)

Musica theoretica

(English, German f., Latin) an element of the quadrivium, one half of the medieval system of eduction

Música típica

(Spanish f.) folk music

Música tradicional occidental

(Spanish f.) music from the Western traditional

Musica transalpina

the English singer, Nicholas Yonge (c. 1560-1619) published Musica transalpina, a collection of Italian madrigals with their words translated into English in 1588. This proved to be explosively popular, beginning (or fueling) a vogue for madrigal composing and singing in England which lasted into the first two decades of the seventeenth century. Indeed, William Heather, founder of the music chair at Oxford University, included the book in his portrait, painted c.1627, confirming the longevity of Musica transalpina's influence and popularity. In 1597 Yonge published a second book (Musica transalpina: the Second Booke of Madrigalles, ... translated out of Sundrie Italian Authors). Composers such as John Wilbye and Thomas Weelkes used the pieces in both collections as models for their work

also known as the "Imperial Music Bureau", discontinuously and in various incarnations was an organ of the imperial governmental bureaucracy of several Chinese dynasties. The term "Music Bureau" came to be applied to a category of Classical Chinese poems, which were based upon the Han Music Bureau style with the standard forms and themes developed by members of the imperial Music Bureau during the Han Dynasty. Known as yuefu, this form of poetry formed an important part of Han poetry as well as the Jian'an poetry of the late Han and early Six Dynasties, as well as having a later revival in Tang poetry. The Music Bureau was concerned with poetry because lyrics are a part of music, and traditional Chinese poetry, such as shi was considered to have been chanted or sung, rather than spoken

(Greece) by the beginning of the twentieth century, music-cafés were popular in Istanbul and Izmir, owned primarily by Greeks, as well as Jews and Armenians. The bands were usually led by a female vocalist and included a violin and a sandoúri. The improvised songs typically exclaimed aman aman, which led to them being called amanédhes or café-aman

Music centre

(in the US 'music center') a type of integrated audio system for home use, used to play from a variety of media. The term is usually used for lower end or sub-high fidelity equipment

an interdisciplinary field involving such disparate areas as cognitive science, music theory, psychology, musicology, neuroscience, computer science, philosophy, etc. The field aspires to account for the underlying mental processes that occur when people listen to music or perform music

when opera evolved in Florence in the early seventeenth century, it was originally termed dramma per musica, music drama

a term, Gesamtkunstwerke, used by Richard Wagner (1813-83) for opera that includes leitmotif and the melding of scenery, costume, libretti, music and drama, a kind of 'total opera'

Music education

music education comprises the application of education methods in teaching music. Music education encompasses many areas of teaching, including music history, music theory, proficiency in a musical instrument, singing skills, and general music skills

music education for young children is an educational program introducing children in a playful manner to singing, speech, music, motion and organology. It is a subarea of music education. There are classes for diverse age brackets, starting with children as young as three months

the art of drawing music notation at high quality. The term music copying is almost equivalent, though music engraving implies a higher degree of skill and quality. Plate engraving, the process engraving derives from, became obsolete around 1990. The term engraving is now used to refer to any high-quality method of drawing music notation, particularly on a computer ("computer engraving" or "computer setting") or by hand ("hand engraving")

music file formats are used to store musical scores, instrument sound information, song and track titles, lyrics and other text and all of the events required to accurately play back a song

MIDI formats

the standard MIDI file format is the most popular and well supported music file format. It stores information about music in a format similar to sheet music and contains the musical notes, timing information and song text (title, author, track names, lyrics, etc.) needed to describe and play an entire composition. This format is different from other music file formats in that it doesn't store the actual sounds used to recreate the music. The sounds are defined by the hardware instruments used for playback. To overcome this audio limitation, MIDI files can be used in conjunction with files that define instrument sounds, such as the Sound Fonts (SBK, SF2) and Downloadable Sounds (DLS) files. Many MIDI file format variations have been created to combine the information found in MIDI files, instrument definition files and digital audio files. MIDI/Digital Audio sequencers are the main contributers to the large number of MIDI formats including Cakewalk's WRK, Cubase's ARR and Logic's LSO formats

tracker formats

tracker file formats contain both the musical score information as well as the actual instrument sound samples that are used to play a tracker song. This type of format originated with the MOD file format on the Amiga computer which had hardware that was capable of playing 4 channels of digital audio simultaneously. This capability was ahead of its time and had a great influence on the original structure and four track limitation of the MOD format. At that time, the average PC's audio device, the PC speaker, couldn't produce quality audio output beyond simple tones and beeps. As PC audio technology advanced with the introduction of the first popular sound cards, this file format began getting used in the PC world which slowly became the most popular platform for this file format (also greatly due to the discontinued production of the Amiga computer). As technology on the PC advanced further, the MOD file format grew to accomidate higher sampling rates, increased sample sizes and more channels/tracks. Before some of its earlier limitations were overcome, a huge number of "MOD-like" file formats were created to accomodate new programs that offered features beyond the scope of the MOD format. These include Scream Tracker's STM and S3M, Fast Tracker 2's IT and Composer 669's 669 formats

in a performance of 'Music for Solo Performer', composed by Alvin Lucier in 1965, Lucier attaches electrodes to his head to detect his alpha brain waves. His alpha brain waves are then transmitted by amplifiers to loudspeakers that are used to resonate percussion instruments placed around a concert hall

originally a reference to the building in which it was presented, an entertainment formed of a series of self-contained acts, performed by comedians, singers, acrobats, etc, that was popular from the mid-nineteenth century to the First World War. In America, 'Music Hall' was known as 'variety' or 'vaudeville' although in Britain the term 'vaudeville' referred to more lowbrow entertainment that would have been termed 'burlesque'

in Britain, music hall was a form of theatrical entertainment (often a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts) popular between 1850 and 1960. In the United Kingdom the term 'vaudeville' referred to more lowbrow entertainment that would have been termed 'burlesque'

in musicology, music history is the study of how music has developed over time, and may include manuscript studies, textual criticism, iconography, studies of the relationship between words and music, and the relationship between music and society. Ethnomusicology and music archeology are also fields of study within music history. However, music history often means the study of the history of music theory

a person who plays or composes music. A musician can be named according to his or her instrument (a violinist, for example, is one who plays violin.) The "-ist" suffix is most common, though not universal (e.g. "trumpeter," not "trumpetist.")

(French, literally 'the routine musicians') a movement organized in the 1980s mainly devoted to collecting and broadcasting the traditional music of Central France. The movement started in Lyon, expanded and became a federation. It was later responsible for a detailed study of traditions revolving around bagpipes and violins and for the creation of the Modal magazine

Musicista

(Portuguese) musician

Musicista

(Italian m./f.) musician

Musicista di professione

(Italian m./f.) professional musician

Musicisti

(Italian m./f. pl.) musicians

Music, Language of

see 'Language of Music'

Music lesson

while many individuals are content to play a musical instrument "by ear" or by practicing individual pieces until a reasonable proficiency is achieved, others wish to develop mastery of one or more instruments, and commonly seek formal instruction in the form of music lessons

the area of librarianship that pertains to music collections and their development, cataloging, preservation and maintenance, as well as reference issues connected with musical works and music literature. Music librarians usually have degrees in both music and librarianship (typically, a Master of Library and Information Science and at least a college-level music degree). Music librarians deal with standard librarianship duties such as cataloging and reference, but the addition of music scores and recordings to collections complicates these tasks. Therefore, music librarians generally read music and have at least a basic understanding of both music theory and music history to aid in their duties.

software written by Laurie Spiegel in 1985, that turns a computer into a musical instrument that anyone could play. As a user moved the mouse through an onscreen grid to choose notes, the computer automatically generated accompaniments and ornaments for the notes, based on the context of the user's previous choices and keys pressed on the computer keyboard

(Italian m., Portuguese) musician, a professor or practitioner of music

(Italian m.) a castrato

Músico (m.), Música (f.)

(Portuguese, Spanish) musician, a professor or practitioner of music

músico (m.), música (f.)

(Spanish) musical

Músico de banda

(Spanish m.) bandsman

Music of Albania

Albania is a Southeast European nation that was ruled by Enver Hoxha's communist government for much of the later part of the twentieth century, though it is now an independent country. Even before Hoxha's reign began, Albania was long controlled by the Ottoman Empire and other conquering powers, leading to a diversity of influences that is common in the much-fragmented Balkan region and resulting in a diverse and unique musical sound. Albanians (and the ethnic-Albanian Kosovars of nearby Serbia) are commonly divided into three groupings: the northern Ghegs and southern Labs and Tosks. Turkish influence is strongest around the capital city, Tirana, while Shkodër has been long considered the centre for musical development in Albania

Algeria holds a singular place for Arab culture as a region in which the musical traditions of Islamic Spain, the Ottoman Empire, the eastern Arab countries (the Mashriq), Saharan and West Africa, Berbers, Bedouin and Europe have all interacted to various degrees. Algerian music has come to include suites called nuubaat (singular nuuba) as well as derivatives including rabaab and hawzii. Sha-bii is, in most Arab countries, folk music; in Algeria, however, it refers to a style of recent urban popular music. True styles of folk music include hofii, a form of female vocal music, and zindalii, from Constantine

in the twentieth century, Angola has been wracked by violence and political instability. Its musicians have been oppressed by government forces, both during the period of Portuguese colonization and after independence. The capital and largest city of Angola is Luanda, home to a diverse group of styles including Angolan merengue (based on Dominican merengue), kilapanda and semba, the last being a genre with roots intertwined with that of Brazilian samba music. Just off the coast of Luanda is Ilha do Cabo, home to an accordion and harmonica-based style of music called rebita

Antigua and Barbuda is a Caribbean nation in the Lesser Antilles chain. The country is a second home for many of the pan-Caribbean genres of popular music, and has produced stars in calypso, soca, steeldrum, zouk and reggae. Of these, steeldrum is likely the most integral part of the Antiguan popular music scene. Though developed in Trinidad by musicians who replaced calypso's bamboo percussive instrumentation with steel pans

internationally, Argentina is known mostly for the tango, which developed in Buenos Aires and surrounding areas, as well as Montevideo, Uruguay. Folk, pop and classical music are also popular, and Argentine artists like Mercedes Sosa and Atahualpa Yupanqui contributed greatly to the development of nueva canción. 'Argentine rock' has also led to a defiant rock scene in Argentina

Armenia is in the Caucasus Mountains, and its music is a mix of indigenous folk music, perhaps best-represented by Djivan Gasparyan's well-known duduk music, as well as light pop, and extensive Christian music, due to Armenia's status as the oldest Christian nation in the world. Armenian immigrant communities have maintained their folk traditions, especially in the area around Fresno, California

Aruba and the five main islands of the Netherlands Antilles are part of the Lesser Antilles island chain. Their music is a mixture of native, African and European elements, and is closely connected with trends from neighboring islands like Martinique, Trinidad and Guadeloupe, as well as the mainland former Dutch possession of Suriname, which has exported kaseko music to great success on the islands. Curaçao and Bonaire likely have the most active and well-known music scenes. Curaçao is known for a kind of music called tumba, which is named after the conga drums which accompany it

Barbados is home to spouge music, which is played on guitars, mandolins and drums, but is best known as a second home for Trinidadian calypso and soca, as well as a reggae/soca fusion called ragga-soca

Belize is a small country in Central America, and its culture is a mix of Mestizo, Maya, Spanish, British and African influences. After many centuries of Maya domination, Spanish and then British colonizers arrived in the area, the latter keeping Belize as its only colony in Spanish-dominated Central America. Far more influentially than either European power's arrival, however, was the importation of African slaves. Europeans brought polkas, waltzes, schottisches and quadrilles, while Africans brought numerous instruments and percussion-based musics, including marimba. African culture resulted in the creation of brukdown music in interior logging camps, played using banjo, guitar, drums, dingaling bell, accordion and an ass's jawbone played by running a stick up and down the teeth. Brukdown remains a rural, rarely recorded genre

Bermuda is a Caribbean island and an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Its musical output includes pop singers Heather Nova and Eddie DeMello, as well as an array of bagpipe music played by descendents of Irish and Scottish settlers; the biggest bagpipe band on modern Bermuda is the Bermuda Islands Pipe Band

out of all the Andean countries, Bolivia remains perhaps the most culturally linked to the indigenous peoples. Like most of its neighbors, Bolivia was long-dominated by Spain and its attendant culture. Even after independence, Bolivian music was largely based on European forms. In 1952, a revolution established nationalistic reforms granting increased social, cultural and political awareness for the Aymara and Quechua natives. Intellectuals in the country began wearing ponchos and otherwise associating themselves with native cultures, and the new government promoted native folklore by, among other methods, establishing a folklore department in the Ministry of Education

like the surrounding Balkan countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina has had a turbulent past marked by frequent foreign invasions and occupation. As a result, Bosnian music is now a mixture of ethnic Bosniak, Greek , Roma (Gypsy), Turkish, Hungarian and Macedonian influences

Botswana is an African country made up of numerous ethnic groups, though the Batswana are the most numerous. Music is an omnipresent part of Botswana culture, and include popular and folk forms. Batswana church choirs are common across the country. Music education is an integral part of the Botswana educational system. Children of all ages are taught traditional songs and dances

Strong influences on the music of Brazil come from all parts of the world but there's a regional music very popular with influence from Africa, Europe, the natives of the Amazon rainforest and of other parts of the country. Samba is undoubtedly the most internationally famous form of Brazilian music, though bossa nova and other genres have also received international attention

Bulgarian music is part of the Balkan tradition, which stretches across Southeastern Europe, and has its own distinctive sound. Traditional Bulgarian music has had more international success than its neighbors due to the breakout international success of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, a woman's choir that has topped world music charts across Europe and even farther abroad

of all Latin American countries, Colombia has perhaps the most diverse musical heritage, to which people of Indian, African and European descent have each made significant contributions. Despite a considerable amount of miscegenation, Colombian society has always been relatively fragmented along class, racial, and regional lines. This poor integration has been manifested in a history of violence, as well as in the persistence of musical diversity. Since the advent of the mass media, modern Colombian popular musics have reflected, on the one hand, a degree of enhanced national cohesion subsequent to the cessation of civil wars, and, on the other, the vicissitudes of the drug trade which has come to dominate social and economic life in much of the northern and central regions

Costa Rica is a Central American country whose culture is a diverse mixture of African, European and native elements. Though its music has achieved little international renown, Costa Rican popular music genres include an indigenous calypso scene which is distinct from the more widely-known Trinidadian calypso sound, as well as a thriving disco audience that supports nightclubs in cities like San José. American and British rock and roll and pop are popular among the youth, while dance-oriented genres like soca, salsa, merengue, marcado, lambada and cumbia are also popular

the music of Croatia, like the country itself, has three major influences: the influence of the Mediterranean especially present in the coastal areas, of the Balkans especially in the mountainous, continental parts, and of central Europe in the central and northern parts of the country

the Caribbean island of Cuba has been influential in the development of multiple musical styles in the 19th and 20th centuries. The roots of most Cuban musical forms lie in the cabildos, a form of social club among African slaves brought to the island. Cabildos preserved African cultural traditions, even after the Emancipation in 1886 forced them to unite with the Roman Catholic church. At the same time, a religion called Santería was developing and had soon spread throughout Cuba, Haiti and other nearby islands. Santería influenced Cuba's music, as percussion is an inherent part of the religion. Each orisha, or deity, is associated with colors, emotions, Roman Catholic saints and drum patterns called toques. By the twentieth century, elements of Santería music had appeared in popular and folk forms

the music of Cyprus includes a variety of classical, folk and popular genres. Recent trends have seen the rise of Ayia Napa, a resort, as a home for 'UK garage music', similar in its evolution to that of the island Ibiza

in modern Dominica, calypso, zouk and reggae are popular, along with imported soca and rock and roll, and the indigenous jing ping sound. A combination of these pop forms called bouyon has achieved some popularity

El Salvador is a Central American country whose culture is a mixture of Mayan, Pipil/Aztec, Spanish and West African influences. Its music includes religious songs (mostly Roman Catholic) used to celebrate Christmas and other holidays, especially feast days of the saints. Satirical and rural lyrical themes are common. Popular styles in modern El Salvador include salsa, cumbia, reggae and reggaeton

Equatorial Guinea's culture has been less-documented than most African countries, and commercial recording remains scarce. This is partially due to the country's small size and a population of only about 400,000. Equatorial Guinea was carved out of three former Spanish colonies: Rio Muni, a strip of land between Cameroon and Gabon, Bioko, an island near Cameroon, and Annobón, an island in the Atlantic Ocean far from the mainland. The national anthem of Equatorial Guinea was written by Atanasio Ndongo Miyono, and adopted in 1968, when the country gained independence from Spain

Fiji is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean. Though geographically Melanesian, Fijian music is more Polynesian in character. Nevertheless, Fijian folk styles are distinct in their fusion of Polynesian and Melanesian traditions. Folk music is dominated by vocal church music, as well as dances characterized by rich harmony and complex percussion made from slit drums or natural materials

French Polynesia came to the forefront of the world music scene in 1992, with the release of The Tahitian Choir's recordings of unaccompanied vocal Christian music called himene tarava, recorded by French musicologist Pascal Nabet-Meyer. This form of singing is common in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands, and is distinguished by a unique drop in pitch at the end of the phrases, which is a characteristic formed by several different voices; it is also accompanied by steady grunting of staccato, nonsensical syllables

an African country whose musical output is little-known in comparison with regional giants like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon. The country boasts an array of folk styles. Imported rock and hip hop from the US and UK are popular in Gabon, as are rhumba, makossa and soukous

the musical legacy of Greece is as diverse as its history. Cypriot music has many similarities to traditional Greek music, and their modern music scenes remain well-integrated. Ethnic Greeks have long been the largest ethnic group on the island

Grenada is a small Caribbean island nation that is known for calypso and jazz, as well as for the African dances brought to Grenada that survive in an evolved form, as have European quadrilles and picquets

like its Central American neighbours, Guatemala's national instrument is the marimba, a sort of xylophone. There are also many types of wind orchestra. The Garifuna people, who are spread throughout the region, have their own distinct varieties of popular and folk music

Honduras is a Central American country whose musical culture is a mixture of indigenous, European and African elements. Traditional instruments in the country include the marimba and conch shell, which is now sometimes used alongside a guitar or accordion. The Lenca, a native ethnic group, have kept many of their musical traditions alive, including the guancasco dance, while the Garifunas have a vibrant syncretic popular tradition and the Miskitos have their own unique fusion of indigenous, African and European music

the music of Iran has thousands of years of history dating back to the Neolithic age as attested by the archeological evidence chiefly in Elam, one of the earliest world civilizations in the south western Iran. A distinction needs to be made between the science of Music or Musicology (Elm-e-Musighy) which as a branch of mathematics has always been held in high regards in Iran; as opposed to Music performance, (Tarab, Navakhteh, Tasneef, Taraneh or more recently Muzik) which has had an uneasy and often acrimonious relationship with the religious authorities and, in times of religious revival, with society as a whole

since Roman times, Italy has been one of the cultural centres for all of Europe. It was the home of the Italian Renaissance, as well as many of the most influential composers of later centuries. It also incorporates multiple regional styles of folk music as well as a burgeoning record industry that supports a wide variety of rock, pop, hip hop and opera musicians

during the opening decades of the twentieth century, Mytilene (or Lesbos, as it is formally known) became independent. Of course, while it was never physically connected to the western coast of Anatolia, Mytilene was for centuries politically, economically, and culturally tied to Asia Minor. Mytilene was incorporated into modern Greece only in 1912. Prior to that, Mytilene constituted part of the Ottoman Empire, its orientation eastward towards Asia Minor and the port city of Smyrna (Izmir), in particular. The sandouri-violin combo is one of the most important and recognizable parts of Mytilene's distinctive musical idiom. Similarly, the outi and darbouka, understood as having been introduced by refugees from Asia Minor, serve as a reminder of Mytilinëika's Anatolian roots

Lesotho is a Southern African nation surrounded entirely by South Africa. The largest ethnic group is the Basotho. Traditional musical instruments include lekolulo, a kind of flute played by herding boys, setolo-tolo, resembling an extended Jews Harp played by men using their mouth, and the women's stringed thomo. Vocal choirs are also extremely popular in Lesotho, as are various sub-Saharan AfroPop styles, jazz, kwaito, and reggae. Kwaito in particular is the popular music of most people in Lesotho

Macau is a Special Administrative Region of the China. It was formerly a colony of Portugal, which left a legacy of linguistic and other cultural elements. Musical institutions in the city include the Macau Orchestra and the Macau Conservatory, which has played an important role in music education in the area since its foundation in 1991. The Macao International Music Festival is an important annual event

Madagascar is an island off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. It is a cultural oddity, its native inhabitants being Malayo-Polynesian in origin instead of Sub-Saharan African. They are believed to have migrated from what is now Indonesia and surrounding island chains to Madagascar around the third century via Southeast Asia, Middle East and East Africa and not across the ocean. Thus, their culture is a mixture of elements from nearly all the cultures which surround the Indian Ocean, as well as Welsh, French and Arab civilizations. Musically, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo and France are the influences most evident in modern popular music, while indigenous folk music is syncretist enough that it sounds utterly unique

the former French colonies of Martinique and Guadeloupe are small islands in the Caribbean. Despite their small size, the island have created a large popular music industry, which gained in international renown after the success of zouk music in the later twentieth century. Zouk's popularity was particularly great in France, where the genre became an important symbol of identity for Martinique and Guadeloupe

Montserrat is a dependency of the United Kingdom. The influence of Irish traditions is apparent in Montserrat's symbols and heritage, especially the set dance-like Bam-chick-lay, and the presence of fife and drum ensembles similar to the bodhrán. Natives are also witness to the 'Jumbie Dancers', whose style is still strongly African

traditional Namibian dance occurs at most community events, such as weddings. Such dances can be seen at the Caprivi Arts Festival, National Arts Festival, and other music festivals. Traditional instruments of Namibia include drums, bows, harps and thumbpianos. The San people's folk music emulate animal sounds and include accompanied storytelling or dancing. The Namaqua use various strings, flutes and drums, while the Bantu added marimba, gourds and horn trumpets. The Owambo people are known for a style called shumbo

New Zealand music is a significant component of the culture of New Zealand. As the largest nation in Polynesia, New Zealand's music is influenced by the indigenous Maori and immigrants from the Pacific region. The origins of New Zealand's musical culture lie in its British colonial history, with contributions from Europe and America. Local artists have mixed these styles with local influences to create music that is uniquely New Zealand in style

modern Nicaraguan culture is a mixture of indigenous and European, especially Spanish, influences. Musical instruments include the marimba and others common across Central America. Pop music includes Cuban, Brazilian, Mexican and Panamanian performers, as well as stars from Europe and the United States. The Garifuna community exists in Nicaragua and is known for its own popular music

Panama is a Central American country, inhabited mostly by mestizos (persons of mixed African, European and indigenous ancestry), with a small minority of Africans. Only independent from southern neighbour Colombia since 1903, Panama's national identity has been quick to assert itself. The culture of the Azuero region has come to dominate the country

the island of New Guinea is divided into two halves. The east is a country a called Papua New Guinea, and the western half is the Papua province of Indonesia. Both sides were colonized by foreign powers until the twentieth century. Papua New Guinea was divided into two separate UK and German areas (the Territory of New Guinea and the Territory of Papua) until after the end of World War 1, when they became trust territories controlled by Australia The united Papua New Guinea became independent in 1975. West New Guinea was a Dutch colony until Indonesian independence arrived in 1962. West New Guinea's music has not been as well documented as Papua New Guinea's, partially due to the hostility from the Indonesian government towards the promotion of indigenous Melanesian culture

Polynesia is a group of island chains spread across much of the Pacific Ocean, and includes many countries and territories. Internationally, Polynesian music is mostly associated with twinkling guitars and grass skirts, Hawaiian hula and other tourist-friendly forms of music. While these elements are justifiably a part of Polynesian history and culture, there is actually a wide variety of music made in the far-flung reaches of Polynesia

Romania is a European country whose population includes ethnic Romanians, Hungarian and Roma (Gypsy) populations. Like Hungary and other neighboring countries, Romania's modern popular music is heavily influenced by Roma musicians, whose World War II-era café music they have modified into orchestral popular ensembles. Romania also has thriving scenes in the fields of hip hop music, heavy metal and rock and roll. Traditional Romanian folk tarafs remain popular, and some folk musicians have come to national fame

Saint Kitts and Nevis is an island nation in the Caribbean, known for a number of musical celebrations including Carnival (December 17 to January 3 on Saint Kitts). The last week in June features the St Kitts Music Festival, while the week-long Culturama on Nevis lasts from the end of July into early August. In addition, there are other festivals on the island of Saint Kitts. There is Inner City Fest in February in Molineaux Green Valley Festival usually around Whit Monday in village of Cayon, Easterama around Easter (April) in village of Sandy Point, and Fest-Tab around July-August in the village of Tabernacle. These celebrations typically feature parades, street dances and salsa, jazz, soca, calypso and steelpan music

the island of Saint Lucia, located in the Caribbean, has seen a recent upsurge in interest in its native music. The government has seen value in promoting a music industry, and has formed the Cultural Development Foundation (CDF) to accomplish this goal. In 2004, the first-ever M & C Fine Arts Awards were given to Saint Lucian artists, an event sponsored by the CDF. There is also a Saint Lucia Jazz Festival

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a Caribbean island with thriving music scenes based on imported steelpan, Big Drum, soca, reggae and calypso. Traditional storytelling is also popular. The national anthem of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is St. Vincent! Land So Beautiful, adopted upon independence in 1967. It was written by Phyllis Joyce McClean Punnett with music by Joel Bertram Miguel

the Samoas are a Polynesian island chain, currently divided between the independent state of Samoa (formerly Western Samoa) and an American territory called American Samoa. Amerika Samoa, a song with words by Mariota Tiumalu Tuiasosopo and music by Napoleon Andrew Tuiteleleapaga, has been official territorial anthem of American Samoa since 1950. The Banner of Freedom, a song which honours the flag of Samoa, has been the national anthem of Samoa since 1962. It was composed by Sauni Iiga Kuresa

São Tomé and Príncipe is an island country off the coast of Africa. Culturally, the people are African but have been highly influenced by the Portuguese rulers of the islands. São Toméans are known for ússua and socopé rhythms, while Principe is home to the dêxa beat. Portuguese ballroom dancing may have played an integral part in the development of these rhythms and their associated dances. Tchiloli is a musical dance performance that tells a dramatic story. The danço-congo is similarly a combination of music, dance and theatre

Serbia and Montenegro is a Balkan country, recently ravaged by war that has caused widespread migration and cultural oppression. Indigenous folk music (narodna muzika) remains popular, both traditional tunes and more modern compositions. The most modernized form of folk music is novokomponovana narodna muzika, which is a best-selling genre throughout Serbia and Montenegro

the two single biggest influences on Sri Lankan music are from Buddhism and Portuguese colonizers. Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka after the Buddha's visit in 300 BC, while the Portuguese arrived in the fifteenth century, bringing with them cantiga ballads, ukuleles and guitars, along with African slaves, who further diversified the musical roots of the island. These slaves were called kaffrinha, and their dance music was called baila. Traditional Sri Lankan music includes the hypnotic Kandyan drums - drumming was and is very much a part and parcel of music in both Buddhist and Hindu temples in Sri Lanka

the Central African Republic includes many different cultures and musical forms. Western rock and pop music, as well as Afrobeat, soukous and other genres have become popular nation-wide. The Pygmies have an incredibly complex folk music tradition. Polyphony and counterpoint are common components, as is an incredibly varied rhythmic structure. The trumpet-based music of the Bandas has also gained some popularity outside of the area due to its jazzy structure

describing the music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is difficult, due to vagaries surrounding the meanings of various terms. The country itself was formerly called Zaire and is now sometimes referred to as Congo-Kinshasa to distinguish it from the Republic of the Congo (or Congo-Brazzaville). In this article, Congo will refer specifically to the Democratic Republic of the Congo unless otherwise noted. Outside of Africa, most any music from the Congo is called soukous, which most accurately refers instead to a dance popular in the late 1960s. The term rumba or 'rock-rumba' is also used generically to refer to Congolese music, though both words have their own difficulties and neither are very precise nor accurately descriptive. People from the Congo have no term for their own music per se, although they do use muziki na biso (our music) on occasion

the vast majority of the inhabitants of the United States are immigrants or descendents of immigrants. This article will focus on the music of these communities and discuss its roots in countries across Africa, Europe and Asia, excluding only Native American music, indigenous and immigrant Latinos, Puerto Rican music, Hawaiian music and African American music. The music of Irish- and Scottish-Americans will be a special focus, due to their extreme influence on Appalachian folk music and other genres. These sorts of music are often sustained and promoted by a variety of ethnic organizations.

music among the Nez Percé was traditionally a dynamic medium of celebration and ritual, marked by improvisation. It involved not only musical instruments and verse, but also improvised vocalizations of sounds, such as sighs, mimicked animal sounds, moans, and yelps. Flutes made from elderberry stems were one of the preferred musical instruments used by the Nez Percé. It usually had six finger holes. For protection in war, men played wing bone whistles to call guardian spirits. The rasp, which involved scraping a serrated stick with a bone, was standard for war dances prior to the nineteenth century. During the nineteenth century, hand drums replaced the rasp. Larger drums associated with Washat ceremonies began to be used in the 1860s. By the 1890s, some drums were large enough to accommodate up to eight drummers. For traditional ceremonies, a shaman used rattles composed of deer hooves on a stick. After the Nez Percé came into contact with white settlers, bells were used instead of hooves. A simple wooden rod beaten rhythmically on a plank was also used as an instrument

the Republic of Macedonia is a diverse country, with a Macedonian majority (65%) and a large Albanian minority (25%), and Turks, Cincars, Gypsies, Greeks and Serbs. The music of the Macedonian Slavs brings together Turkish music, Albanian music, Roma music and other ethnic Balkan music idioms. Local dances are called oro

The Republic of the Congo (or Congo-Brazzaville) is an African nation with close musical ties to its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, or Congo-Kinshasa). DRC's homegrown pop music, soukous, are popular across the border, and musicians from both countries have fluidly travelled throughout the region playing similarly styled music

an ancient doctrine originating with the Greeks that implies that the universe and everything in it is in harmony. From this understanding sprang not only the belief in the act of creation as a musical performance but also certainty that the heavenly bodies emit in their revolutions a pattern of sounds, indeed a melody. The expression 'celestial spheres' is first known from writings originating several decades after the death of Pythagoras himself.

in the Pythagorean concept of the music of the spheres, the interval between the earth and the sphere of the fixed stars was considered to be a diapason, the most perfect harmonic interval. The allowing arrangement is most generally accepted for the musical intervals of the planets between the earth and the sphere of the fixed stars: From the sphere of the earth to the sphere of the moon; one tone; from the sphere of the moon to that of Mercury, one half-tone; from Mercury to Venus, one-half tone; from Venus to the sun, one and one-half tones; from the sun to Mars, one tone; from Mars to Jupiter, one-half tone; from Jupiter to Saturn, one-half tone; from Saturn to the fixed stars, one-half tone. The sum of these intervals equals the six whole tones of the octave.[from The History of Philosophy, the principal prose work of the English poet and philosopher Thomas Stanley (1625-78). First published in four volumes (1655, 1656, 1660 and 1662), Stanley's History is a major work in the development of the history of philosophy as a genre and has long remained the standard text on the Greek and Roman philosophers]

To hevene; and shewede hym the Galaxye.
Thanne shewede he hym the lytel erthe that here is,
At regard of the hevenes quantite;
And after shewede he hym the nyne speres;
And after that the melodye herde he
That cometh of thilke speres thryes thre,
That welle is of musik and melodye
In this world here, and cause of armonye.Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1343-1400) The Parliament of Fowls

the music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. Rock and roll, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, and hip-hop are among the country's most internationally renowned genres. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, popular recorded music from the United States has become increasingly known across the world, to the point where some forms of American popular music are listened to almost everywhere

the Virgin Islands are partially controlled by the United Kingdom and the United States, and have had long-standing cultural ties to the island nations to the south as well as to various European colonialists. Though the United States and British Virgin Islands are politically separate, they maintain close cultural relations and are part of the same music area. From its neighbours, the Virgin Islands has imported various pan-Caribbean genres of music, including calypso from Trinidad and reggae from Jamaica. Most popular music in the modern Virgin Islands is a blend of these styles, as well as American hip hop music, and is referred to as mix

there is some lamentation by women in the cemeteries, to the accompaniment of the music of the Qewels (musicians and singers), but the festival is generally characterized by joyous events: the music of dehol (drum) and zorna (shawm), communal dancing and meals, the decorating of eggs. Similarly the village Tawaf, a festival held in the spring in honor of the patron of the local shrine, has secular music, dance and meals in addition to the performance of sacred music

Thrace is a historical region of Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. The written musical history of the country extends back to ancient Greece, when Orpheus became a legendary musician. The region, at the time, was considered the musical center for the whole of Greece. Though the Thracian people were assimilated by surrounding groups, such as the Bulgarians, elements of Thracian folk music continue

the Caribbean state of Trinidad and Tobago is best known as the homeland of calypso music. Other forms of music include Carnival songs like lavway and leggos, as well as bongo music (which originated at wakes). Yoruban shango and Dahomean rada are also popular among the descendants of indentured servants in Port of Spain

Tuvalu is an island nation consisting of eight inhabited islands in the Pacific Ocean. Its people are of Polynesian descent. Their traditional music consists of a number of dances, most popularly including fatele, fakanu and fakaseasea, and were used to celebrate leaders and other prominent individuals. The Tuvaluan style can be described as a musical microcosm of Polynesia, where contemporary and older styles co-exist

Uruguay has a number of local musical forms. The most distinctive ones are candombe, an Afro-Uruguayan percussion-based form, and murga, a form of musical theatre, which both occur yearly during the Carnival period. There is also milonga, a folk guitar and song form deriving from Spanish traditions and related to similar forms found in many Hispanic-American countries. Uruguay is also known for its tango

Venezuelan pop music has been largely overshadowed on the international scene by its neighbours, especially Brazil, Trinidad and Colombia. It is known for its own salsa, merengue and other imported styles, as well as the distinct llanera music

the study of music, a field includes every conceivable discussion of musical topics. The specializations of musicologists are quite diverse. Some, for instance, may specialize in English Tudor church music, others in the history of musical notation, some in contemporary music theory, and others in the development of the flute. Other musicologists stress the cultural context of music and the meanings music holds for different people. Like the comparable field of art history, different schools of musicology tend to emphasize different types of musical works and different approaches to music. National differences in the definition of musicology also abound. Some American scholars, for instance, would not consider music theory under the rubric of musicology

an agent, who deals in the marketing of songs. Originally, the term referred to publishers of sheet music, but this has changed largely over the years, and today's music publishers rarely deal with printed music or scores. (Those who do have come to be known as "music print publishers".)

laws in most territories of the world grant artistic creators (including writers, composers, artists, photographers, and film directors) certain rights relating to their works, and these rights pass to their heirs at death. Rights granted normally include the exclusive right to use their own work, and the right to license others to do so. These rights are together generally known as 'copyright': the relevant legislation in the United Kingdom is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, with various subsequent amendments. Another commonly used phrase to describe these rights is 'intellectual property rights', which recognizes that created work is indeed 'property', and as such may not be appropriated or used by others without permission. Music licensing is intended to ensure that the owners of the rights to musical works get paid. A purchaser of recorded music owns the media on which the music is stored, not the music itself. A purchaser has limited rights to use and reproduce the recorded work

a music school or conservatoire (British English) - also known as a conservatory (American English) or a conservatorium (Australian English) - is an institution dedicated to teaching the art of music, including the playing of musical instruments, musical composition, musicianship, music history, and music theory

in the field of electronic music, a sequencer was originally any device that recorded and played back a sequence of control information for an electronic musical instrument. Nowadays, the term almost always refers to the feature of recording software which allows the user to record, play back and edit MIDI data. This is distinct from the software features which record audio data

a frame, usually of wood or metal, upon which a musical score or orchestral part is supported

Music style

see 'musical genre'

Music theater

(US) music theatre

Music theatre

since the 1960s, a simpler form of staged drama, better suited to the concert platform

Music theory

music theory is the name for a branch of study that includes many different methods for analyzing, classifying, and composing music and the elements of music. Narrowly it may be defined as the description in words of elements of music, and the interrelationship between the notation of music and performance practice. Broadly, theory may be considered any statement, belief, or conception of music (Boretz, Benjamin (1995) Meta-Variations: Studies in the Foundations of Musical Thought)

"Music 'theory' is not a set of rules by which to compose. Rather, it is a set of underlying principles which can be used to 'explain' musical practice. In other words, music theory is the why and not the how. It does not 'direct' composition in any particular manner" - Albert Silverman[taken from A Theory on Open Modality]

music therapy is the prescribed use of music and musical interventions in order to restore, maintain, and improve emotional, physical, physiological, and spiritual health and well-being. Within this definition are the key elements which define interventions as music therapy

music therapy is prescribed by members of the client's treatment team. Members can include doctors, social workers, psychologists, teachers, case workers, or parents

music is the primary therapeutic tool. Using music to establish a trusting relationship, the music therapist then works to improve the client's physical and mental functioning through carefully structured activities. Examples can include singing, listening, playing instruments, composition, moving to music, and music and imagery exercises

music is administered by a trained music therapist. A music therapist's education and training is extensive. Musical interventions are developed and used by the therapist based on his/her knowledge of the music's affect on behavior, the client's strengths and weaknesses, and the therapeutic goals

music therapy is received by a client and it targets a wide range of clinical populations and client ages

music therapy works towards specific therapeutic goals and objectives. Goal area include communicative, academic, motor, emotional, and social skills. It is important to be aware that while clients may develop their musical skills during treatment, these skills are not the primary concern of the therapist. Rather it is the affect such musical development might have on the client's physical, psychological and socio-economical functioning

Obituary of Clive Robbins - a co-founder of the Nordoff Robbins approach to music therapy which he developed with the American composer Paul Nordoff

Musicus

(Dutch, German) musician

Music video

also 'video clip', 'promo', a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings

a piece of electronic musical equipment providing the facilities of a sound module, a music sequencer and (usually) a musical keyboard. It enables a musician to compose electronic music using just one piece of equipment

(German n. pl.) during the latter half of the eighteenth century and the earlier half of the nineteenth century some copies of musical games called Musikalische Würfelspiele were published in many cities all over Europe. All the publishers stated that an infinite number of compositions could be written by any amateur, even if he were not familiar with the techniques or rules of composing. The tools recommended to select the musical figures were either one to three dice pieces or tops with six or nine faces in assistance with numeral tables. Some of the methods required the players to select the bars directly from the staves, where no tables were given. The musical styles were, except for a few cases, dances (such as minuets, contredanses or waltzes) or marches. The compositions were limited either to a single melody without accompaniment, to two lines for clavier, or to three lines for trio scoring

(German f.) music of the ancients (usually taken to be the period before 500 CE)

Musik der Romantik

(German f.) music of the Romantic era (usually taken to be the period 1730-1830)

Musik des Mittelalters

(German f.) music of the Middle Ages, medieval music, music of the medieval period

Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts

(German f.) music of the twentieth century, twentieth-century music

Musikdiktat

(German n.) (musical) dictation

Musikdirector

(German m.) a musical conductor

Musikdirektor

(German m.) a musical conductor

Musikdrama

(German n.) a music drama

Musikelektronik

(German f.) electronics associated with music

Musikepoche (s.), Musikepochen (pl.)

(German m.) a musical period

Musikepoche Barock

(German m.) the Baroque era (as the term is applied to the music of this period)

Musikepoche Klassik

(German m.) the Classical era (as the term is applied to the music of this period)

Musikepoche Mittelalter

(German m.) the Medieval era (as the term is applied to the music of this period)

Musikepoche Romantik

(German m.) the Romantic era (as the term is applied to the music of this period)

Musiker (m.), Musikerin (f.)

(German) a musician

Musikerziehung

(German f.) a musical education

Musikethnologie

(German f.) ethnomusicology

Musikfest

(German n.) or Musikfestival, a music festival

Musikforschung

(German f.) music research

Musik für Saiteninstrumente

(German f.) music for strings

Musik für Streichinstrumente

(German f.) music for strings

Musikgattung

(German f.) musical genre

Musikgebiet

(German n.) musical genre

Musikgeschichte

(German f.) music history, history of music

Musikgeschmack

(German m.) musical taste

Musikhandschriften

(German f. pl.) music manuscripts

Musikhochschule

(German f.) a college of music

Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, die

commonly referred to as MGG, the largest and most comprehensive German music encyclopedia, and as a Western music reference source is comparable only to the English The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians in size and scope. It is published by Bärenreiter and Metzler

(German) a collection that began as a museum established by Paul de Wit (1852-1925), although much of it and later additions were destroyed by bombing during the Second World War, today the collection offers the visitor an accurate perspective of the development of musical instruments in Europe from Renaissance up until the present day[entry prompted by Uli Metzner]

(French f.) baroque music, music of the Baroque era (from the end of the Renaissance period to the death of J.S. Bach)

Musique bretonne

(French f.) music of Brittany

Musique celtique

(French f.) celtic music

Musique chinoise

(French f.) Chinese music

Musique chinoise traditionnelle

see musique traditionnelle chinoise

Musique chorale

(French f.) choral music

Musique classique

(French f.) classical music, art music

see musique de la période classique

Musique classique occidentale

(French f.) Western classical music, Western art music

Musique concrète

(French f.) electrically combined sounds derived from natural sources as against music made 'abstractly' by working with symbols that represent sounds (as in a musical score), a term coined by Peter (Pierre) Schaeffer in 1948 for his pioneering Etude aux Chemins de Fer (Railroad Study), a recorded assemblage of steam engines, whistles, and other railroad sounds

(French f.) music of the Classical period (from the death of J.S. Bach to the beginning of the Romantic period)

Musique du monde

(French f.) world music (also used in its plural form: musiques du monde, literally 'world musics')

Musique du Siècle d'or espagnol

(French f., a reference to the Spanish, Siglo de Oro) music from Spain's Golden Age (the 17th century itself, or, according to some commentators, two periods, namely the first half of the 16th century and the first half of the 17th century)

Musique écrite

(French f.) written music

Musique électronique

(French f.) electronic music

Musique en ligne

(French f.) online music (music available over the internet)

Musique en quarts de ton

(French f.) quarter-tone music

Musique espagnole

(French f.) Spanish music

Musique ethnique

(French f.) light music with ethnic tint. It is essentially electric and electronic music with some elements of traditional culture, for example, Irish, African or South American. It will combine some traditional instruments, elements of traditional rhythms and some ethnic melodies often enhanced electronically

Musique exotique

(French f.) exotic music

Musique expérimentale

(French f.) experimental music

Musique folklorique

(French f.) a term has negative connotations. It is used for the groups from the former Eastern bloc presenting staged, simplified and mostly heavily arranged folklore

Musique fonctionelle

(French f.) functional music

see Gebrauchsmusik

Musique funèbre

(French f.) funeral music

Musique "fusion"

(French f.) fusion (music) (a music genre which combines two or more other genres, one of which can be jazz)

fusion, jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a musical genre that merges jazz with elements of other styles of music, particularly funk, rock, R&B, ska, electronic, and world music, but also pop, classical, and folk music, or sometimes even metal, reggae, country, hip hop, etc. Fusion albums, even those that are made by the same group or artist, may include a variety of styles

Musique grand public

(French f.) middle-of-the-road music

Musique grecque ancienne

(French f.) music of the ancient Greeks

Musique impressionniste

(French f.) impressionist music

Musique instrumentale

(French f.) instrumental music

Musique japonaise

(French f.) Japanese music, music of Japan

Musique japonaise traditionnelle

see musique traditionnelle japonaise

Musique légère

(French f.) light music, music for entertainment

Musique liturgique

(French f.) church music

Musique lounge

(French f.) lounge music

Musique lyrique

(French f.) operatic music

Musique marocaine

(French f.) Maroccan music

Musique méchanique

(French f.) mechanical music

Musique médiévale

(French f.) medieval music, music of the Medieval era

Musique mesurée (à l'antique)

(French f.) from late sixteenth-century France, an attempt to apply the rules of classical, (particularly Greek, poetry, vers mesurés à l'antique, to literary and musical works, creating in the former case vers mesurés and in the latter musique mesurée or musique mesurée à l'antique, that was pioneered by a group of poets known as La Pléiade, and which would influence many of the characteristics of the later air de cour. The first collection consisting exclusively of musique mesurée was the first publication by Jacques Mauduit (1557-1627) entitled Chansonnettes mesurées de Jean-Antoine de Baïf (1586). Mersenne credited Mauduit with introducing the viol consort into France; he also claimed that it was Mauduit who suggested adding the sixth string to the viol. (a low seventh string - A", a minor third below the cello's lowest C - was supposedly added in France by the Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (c. 1640-c.1690) although Saint Cecilia with an Angel (1618) by Domenichino (1581-1641) clearly shows a seven-string viol)

see La Pléiade, 'Baïf's Academy'

Musique Metal

(French f.) metal (a rock music genre)

Musique microtonale

(French f.) microtonal music (including quarter-tone music)

Musique militaire

(French f.) miltary music

Musique moderne

(French f.) modern music (usually taken to be from the end of the Romantic period to anything from 25 to 50 years ago)

Musique nouvelle

(French f.) new music (a non genre-specific term for music newly composed)

Musique numérisée

(French f.) digital music

Musique occidentale

Western music (a term applied to music from the European tradition, as opposed to Eastern music, that arising from the cultures of the East)

Musique par ordinateur

(French f.) computer music

Musique polyphonique

(French f.) polyphony, polyphonic music

Musique pop

(French f.) pop music (commercial music from the 1960s onward)

Musique populaire

(French f.) 'music of the street', often performed using traditional instruments. The repertoire is usually mixed - there are popular waltzes and Parisian songs as well as songs from other countries. This music is designed mainly to entertain

Musique pour guitare

(French f.) guitar music, music for the guitar

Musique pour harmonie

(French f.) wind music, band music

Musique pour instruments à cordes

(French f.) music for strings

Musique pour instruments à vent

(French f.) wind music

Musique profane

(French f.) secular music

Musique pure

(French f.) absolute music

Musique rai

(French f.) raï-music, ra'i, raï (music that mixes western rhythms and technology with that from the Arabic tradition)

Musique religieuse

(French f.) religious music

Musiquero

(Spanish m.) music cabinet

musiquero (m.), musiquera (f.)

(Spanish, Argentina) fond of music

Musique rock

(French f.) rock (a popular music genre)

Musique romantique

(French f.) romantic music, music from the Romantic era

see musique de la période romantique

Musique sacrée

(French f.) sacred music

Musique savante

(French f.) or musique sérieuse, art music

Musique sérieuse

(French f.) art music

Musique sérielle

(French f.) serial music

Musique scolaire

(French f.) school music

Musique soul

(French f.) soul music

Musique symphonique

(French f.) symphonic music

Musique techno

(French f.) techno (a genre of electronic pop music)

Musique traditionelle

(French f.) equivalent to the term 'living tradition', but, unlike the freedom allowed in the performance of English folk music that forms the so-called 'living tradition', musique traditionelle accepts no divergence from a set of strictly applied conventions that are regional, stylistic and ancient. Any change designed to 'modernise' the music is absolutely unacceptable

Musique traditionnelle chinoise

(French f.) or musique chinoise traditionnelle, Chinese music drawn from the ancient traditions of China including the use of traditional Chinese instruments as opposed to those imported from imported Europe

Musique traditionnelle de l'Asie

(French f.) the traditional music of Asia including China, Japan, Korea, etc.

Musique traditionnelle irlandaise

(French f.) the traditional music of Ireland

Musique traditionnelle japonaise

(French f.) or musique japonaise traditionnelle, Japanese music drawn from the ancient traditions of Japan including the use of traditional Japanese instruments as opposed to those imported from imported Europe

Musique turque

(French f.) Turkish music

Musique tzigane

(French f.) gipsy music

Musique ukrainienne

(French f.) Ukrainian music, music of the Ukraine

Musique Vietnamienne

(French f.) Vietnamese music, music of Vietnam

Musique vocale

(French f.) vocal music

Musique vocale rituelle

(French f.) plain-chant

musische Bildung

(German f.) musical education

musitar

(Spanish) to whisper

musizieren

(German) to make music

musl(s)

abbreviation of 'musical(s)'

Muslim Call to Prayer

(Arabic, adhan) the highly ornamented singing of the muezzin, or crier, emanates daily from the minarets of mosques throughout the Muslim world

the mutantrumpet was invented by trumpeter and composer Ben Neill. The instrument is a trumpet equipped with extra bells and valves, and electrical modifications that allow him to control computer variables with his playing. The first mutantrumpet had three bells, six valves, a trombone slide and an analog processing system. At the Steim Studios in Amsterdam he then developed a MIDI-capable mutantrumpet, which contained more switches, knobs, and pressure-sensitive pads so as to allow greater control over the sound and visuals of his sound installations. Robert Moog designed its electronic processing system and David Behrman designed a computer program to facilitate live performance

(English, German f., French f.) to shift, or mutate, from one hexachord to another, relying on a pivot pitch, so D sol in the hexachord on G could become D re in the hexachord on C. Thus, in solmisation, adjusting the syllables in order that mi and fa should always coincide with a diatonic semitone

(English, German f., French f.) change of voice, for example, the male voice at puberty

a shift of position on a stringed instrument

see 'mutation stop'

in linguistics, a change in a vowel sound caused by another sound in the following syllable. Another common type is the eclipsis mutation, a mutation in which a basic consonant sound is "eclipsed" or replaced by a stronger sound in a preceding word

some stops in the organ have fractional lengths, such as the Quint 2 2/3'. These are termed 'mutations' and enforce harmonics that are not octaves of the 8' fundamental tone. For example, playing a C note on a 2 2/3' stop will sound a note approximately equal in pitch to playing a G note an octave and a half above the C on an 8' stop, reinforcing the third harmonic. A 1 3/5' stop will play two octaves and a major third above an 8' stop. These stops would not normally be played without their non-fractional counterparts, since they would effectively transpose the music played

sordina (Italian), Dämpfer (German), sourdine (French), a device to reduce or eliminate the sound coming from an instrument

on a string instrument, the mute takes the form of some device attached to the bridge that reduces the vibrations so much that the sound is 'softer'. Usually this takes the form of a small three-prong implement which is attached to the top of the bridge with one prong between each pair of strings, although anything which stops the bridge vibrating will suffice, and sprung clothes pegs, for example, have been used. A more modern invention is a mute which sits on the strings between the bridge and tailpiece of the instrument. This is slid into place right next to the bridge to produce the same effect as the detachable three-pronged mutes

muting woodwind instruments is very uncommon, and in the case of the flute is almost completely unheard of. In the eighteenth century, purpose build mutes existed for the oboe and clarinet, but in the rare cases when one of these instruments is muted today a handkerchief is usually stuffed up the bell resulting in a muffled sound. Some bassoonists still use purpose built mutes, generally as a way of regulating volume at extremes of the instrument's register

(electronics) a sequencer command to turn off specified tracks

a person who cannot speak (i.e. is dumb), or a person who does not speak (e.g he remained mute throughout)

the use of a mute on brass instruments is usually indicated as follows:

English

muted

open (or remove mute)

German

gedämpft (or dämpfer auf)

dämpfer weg (or dämpfer ab)

Italian

con sordina

senza sordina (or via la sordina)

French

avec sourdine

enlevez la sourdine (or ôtez la sourdine)

mutes on brass instruments

mutes modify the radiation characteristics of the bell, reducing low-frequency radiation much more than high-frequency radiation

the various mute styles produce different results, some passing frequencies above a certain limit and others emphasizing a particular band of frequencies

when writing muted parts in jazz arrangements, give the player ample time to take a mute out or put it in - especially trombonists. Mute changes should be clearly indicated in the parts - see example below. Use the term "Mute Out" not "Open", because open could have a different meaning, such as a solo section in which the repeats are open ended

at one time the name was applied to any sheep meat sold after Christmas, but today it refers generally to any meat of older sheep

mutuo (m.), mutua (f.)

(Spanish) mutual, reciprocal

mutuo dare

(Latin) exchange

mutuum dare

(Latin) lend

Muu-Muu

see mu-mu

Muwwashah (s.), Muwashahat (pl.)

a classical musical form from the Andalusian school in Medieval Moorish Spain, which may also be called nuba or ma'louf

muy

(Spanish) very, too

¡muy agradecido!

(Spanish) thanks a lot!

muy bueno

(Spanish) very good

muy débil

(Spanish) weaker

muy de mañana

(Spanish) very early (in the day)

muy de noce

(Spanish) very late (in the day)

muy poco agraciado

(Spanish) not very attractive

Muye

(Chinese) a tree leaf or leaf reed

muy forte

(Spanish) stronger

muy malo

(Spanish) very bad

muy mucho

(Spanish) very much

Muyu

Chinese fish-shaped woodblock

Muzak®

also called 'elevator music' or, in German, Berieselungsmusik (f.), trademark of the Muzak Corp. of Seattle, the most famous purveyors of piped-in music for work-places and public places and which as Wired Music first played music to the public in 1922

(literally music of the ghosts, a reference to the time before electricity when musicians played at night in the countryside around barrel-sized oil candles. Their flickering silhouettes made them appear as ghosts) the traditional muzik di zumbi ensemble consisted of the kachu (cowhorn), triangle, wiri (metal scraper), chapi (the metal head of a garden hoe) and tambú (a Curaçoan drum of goat skin nailed to barrels that once transported jenever - Dutch gin). Many of their songs include the benta, a mouth bow of African origin

(Polish) the traditional music of a given culture, which agrees with the Anglo-American use of the term 'ethnic'

Muzyka folkowa

(Polish) folk music

Muzyka rekonstruowana

(Polish) music reconstructed and performed according to surviving evidence, for example, information gleaned from old village musicians. This apprach tries to reconstruct also the context of a performance, for example, the atmosphere of a village dance party. In this way they hope to overcome the break of a generation in the 'living tradition'. The terms 'folk music reconstruction' and 'recreation of a living folk music' seem to express well this genre's aims and limitations

m.v.

abbreviated form of mezza voce, mezzo voce

MvA

also A or AV, after Erich H. Müller von Asow (1892-1964), the cataloguer of the music of Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Mvet

or mwett an instrument of the Fang, the largest ethnic group in Equitorial Guinea, a double-sided harp with calabash amplification, a cross between a zither and a harp

name of the Fang epic repertoire the instrument serves

MWV

abbreviation of Molter-Werke-Verzeichnis, catalogue of the works of Johann Melchior Molter (1696-1765) by Klaus Hafner

referring to the catalogue prepared by Wolfgang G. Haas of music by Franz Möckl (b.1925)

Myanmar music

see 'Burmese music'

Myin gin

(Burmese) musical composition, originally associated with the court, to which horses were taught to dance

a collection of mystery plays in a single manuscript meant to be performed sequentially

Mystery novel

a novel focused on suspense and solving a mystery--especially a murder, theft, kidnapping, or some other crime

Mystery plays

theatrical performance based on Biblical themes, carried out as a series of vignettes by members of town craft guilds, usually in outdoor locations, on the feast of Corpus Christi. Mary Marshall and other early scholars like E. K. Chambers (author of The Medieval Stage, 1903) suggested that the plays developed out of the Latin liturgy of the church, in particular out of the Quem Quaeritis trope of Easter Day festivals

in the word's most general sense, mystics are religious visionaries who experience divine insights. In medieval scholarship, the term "mystics" or "mystic writers" is often used as a collective term for a group of late fourteenth-century and early fifteenth-century eremites in England who wrote mystical works in Middle English and Latin

(French) a quasi-religious reverence for certain pursuits and activites cultivated by those engage in them, expertise, a trade secret

Myth

while common English usage often equates "myth" with "falsehood," scholars use the term slightly differently. A myth is a traditional tale of deep cultural significance to a people in terms of etiology, eschatology, ritual practice, or models of appropriate and inappropriate behavior. The myth often (but not always) deals with gods, supernatural beings, or ancestral heroes. The culture creating or retelling the myth may or may not believe that the myth refers to literal or factual events, but it values the mythic narrative regardless of its historical authenticity for its (conscious or unconscious) insights into the human condition

the commentary, writings, and interpretations added to myths. Medieval writers, such as the four anonymous scribes collectively called the "Vatican Mythographers," would take Greek and Roman myths and write elaborate Christianized allegories to explain the meaning of the text. Another example of medieval mythography is the Ovid moralisée, a retelling of Ovid's Metamorphoses in which French scribes interpret the legends as Christological commentary on the New Testament

(from the Greek words muthos, meaning a narrative, and logos, meaning a word or argument) mythology means the study of myths, or stories of a particular culture that it believes to be true and that use the supernatural to interpret natural events and to explain the nature of the universe and humanity. Mythology is also commonly used to refer to a collection of myths from a particular culture or religion

"Men pass their youth among the gods. At their leaving the schools, they find them again on the stage ... You find them in your cantatas, songs, in the decorations of your apartments, gardens, and publick squares. Ingravings, pictures, poems, music, pleasant writings, learned dissertations, all in short conspire to show us ... actions punished by the laws, and absurdities diametrically opposed to common sense." Noël-Antoine, Abbé Pluche (1688-1761), English translation published in London (1740)

(Latin from the Greek) myth-making, the creation of myths (the term can be applied both to primitive peoples or to contemporary credulity)

Mythos (s.), Mythoi (pl.)

(Greek) a myth, a cycle of mythological legends

approaching the world through poetic narrative and traditional ritual rather than rational or logical thought

Mythus (s.), Mythi (pl.)

(Latin, from the Greek) a myth, a cycle of mythological legends

Mytilinëika

a mix of Smyrnëika with the indigenous musical idioms of Mytilene, which developed to include influences from Constantinople, Aïvali, Pergamum, the Thracian coast, the neighbouring islands, and the West